HOW TO BE A GOOD LEADER IN MEETING

HOW TO BECOME A MASTERFUL MEETING LEADER

Because so many meetings are disasters (or at best a waste of time), managers who can "do a good meeting" are both appreciated and respected. To become a Meeting Master, you must do four things well:

1. Get Organized
2. Use Time Wisely
3. Move from Discussion to Action
4. Lead Different Meetings Differently

For some help, check out the suggestions below.

1. Getting Organized
If you're the leader, you should never try to "wing it" in a meeting. Even a freewheeling brainstorming session requires some advance planning. So before your meeting, answer these questions:

• Do we really need a meeting?
  Meetings use up a lot of person-hours, so be sure you really need to make that investment. Could you use email, phone calls, or one-on-one discussions instead? If so, then don't waste everyone's time.
• Who needs to be there?
  Include all necessary people - but only necessary people. Have a specific reason for inviting each person to attend. If some only need to contribute limited information, don't make them stay for the whole meeting - just the part that relates to them.
• What should be the outcome?
  Determine the desired result of the meeting. Tell participants in advance (or at the beginning of the meeting) what "product" is expected from the discussion.
• What type of meeting is it?
  Tailor the format of the meeting to your goal. Below you will find specific suggestions for three types of meetings: Decision-Making Meetings, Information-Sharing Meetings, and Idea-Generating Meetings.
• What's the "road map"?
  Develop a plan and agenda. The plan identifies goals and desired outcomes and determines how you will structure the time. The agenda lists topics to be covered and the order in which they will be discussed. One useful way to write your agenda is to identify the desired result for each topic - for example, instead of just writing "Budget Discussion" put "Budget Discussion: Identify areas where budget can be cut".
• How should people prepare?
  Give everyone the agenda ahead of time. If this is a one-topic meeting which doesn't need a printed agenda, give participants the subject in advance. Review relevant materials before the meeting to prepare yourself for the discussion. Unprepared leaders drive everyone crazy.

2. Using Time Wisely
Here's how to make the most productive use of your meeting time:

• Distribute the agenda and important information before the meeting.
• Start on time. Waiting for stragglers punishes those who got there on schedule.
• Discuss the most important items first. Resist the temptation to "get quick items out of the way".
• Turn off cell phones and close laptops.
• Follow the agenda, but deviate from it if important issues arise.
• Keep the discussion focused on one topic at a time.
• Keep moving the discussion towards the goal.
• Create a place - sometimes called a "Parking Lot" to list topics for later discussion.
• For long meetings, plan scheduled breaks to keep people from wandering in and out.
• Arrange a later time to discuss issues that involve only a few members.
• Specify a realistic ending time and stick to it.

3. Moving from Discussion to Action
If your meeting is to accomplish anything, everyone must understand what happens next. This is especially critical in decision-making meetings. Here's how to make something happen:

• Before adjourning, summarize what occurred during the meeting. Review all decisions that were made.
• Create a "Next Steps" list of actions to be taken as a result of the meeting.
• Assign responsibility for each action item.
• Agree on schedules and deadlines where appropriate.
• Set a specific time to assess progress on these action steps.
• If there will be a follow-up meeting, describe what must be done before the group meets again.

4. Lead Different Meetings Differently
Different types of meetings require different ground rules and leadership styles.

What's the Purpose of Your Meeting?
Information-Sharing	Decision-Making	Idea-Generating
Goal For participants to provide useful information to one another about their work. The information is not being used to make a decision.	Goal To make a decision about a problem or issue. The final decision may be a group consensus or may be made by the leader.	Goal To come up with innovative and creative approaches to a situation.
Suggestions Allow enough time for everyone to participate. Don't let talkative members use up too much time. Stay focused on information relevant to the whole group. Schedule one-on-one meetings to pursue individual issues or concerns. Encourage people to ask questions. Identify opportunities for people to help each other.	Suggestions If you've already made up your mind, don't have a meeting. Only include people involved in the decision process. Be sure everyone understands the decision to be made. Be sure everyone understands how the decision will be made. Structure the discussion to make the best use of time. Encourage everyone to share information and opinions. Listen to different view points. Identify areas of agreement and disagreement. Clearly communicate the final decision. Before adjourning, make "next step" assignments.	Suggestions Allow plenty of time. Go off-site if possible. Dress casually. Prevent interruptions. Turn off cell phones and pagers. Don't bring up unrelated work issues. Encourage people to share all ideas. Do not criticize or judge ideas when they are shared. Reinforce "out-of-the-box" thinking. Provide a structure for narrowing down alternatives. At the end of the meeting, agree on what happens next. Encourage people to relax, laugh, joke, have fun!

SOURCE : http://www.yourofficecoach.com/topics/career_success/meetings_and_presentations/how_to_become_a_masterful_meeting_leader.aspx

Meetings (Controlling the discussion) How To Market A New Product

Start small and create a timeline for taking your product to national distribution.

So you've invented the next great gadget, and you're sure it'll be a hit. In fact, you've got cartons of inventory stored in every room of your house that you're itching to sell, sell, sell. Your test market said they love it, but how can you reach the legions of consumers you're sure will want to buy it?

Welcome to Sales 101. While there are countless books you can read about sales and marketing, here's a relatively simple, proven strategy that'll teach you how to market a product and grow your sales.

Create a Sales Plan
First, define your market as accurately as possible so you have a deeper understanding of exactly who you're selling to. For example, instead of all women, it may be working women with above-average incomes and kids under age 5. Instead of all men, it may be divorced men in their 40s with six-figure salaries. The more specific you get, the more accurately you'll be able to target your sales and marketing efforts, choosing the sales channels most receptive to your product.

Next, you'll need to develop a sales plan. Before you groan, "Another plan," understand this can be a simple document for your eyes only that'll help you organize and think through your sales strategy. Write it in a way that makes sense for you. Typically, it should include the following:

1. Sales goals: These goals should be specific and measurable, not something like selling a million units. Base them on the nature of your product and try to break them down into manageable parts. For example, sell 50 units to end-users in 30 days and sell 100 units to local independent retailers in six months.
2. Sales activities: These are your tactics--how you plan to make the sale. You may say you'll sell direct-to-consumer through a website or via craft shows, for instance. Or this part of the plan may include activities like developing a sell sheet to send to independent retail stores.
3. Target accounts: Your sales plan should also include the accounts you want to sell to. If it's end-users, for example, plan how you're going to reach them through eBay, classified ads or your website.
4. Timelines: Put dates to all of the above elements so you can define your steps within a realistic timeline. Don't forget that your timelines should be fluid--if you're underachieving, your sales plan can help you figure out why and define the corrective steps you need to take.

Finally, follow a proven process for growing sales over time. While it would be fabulous to have Wal-Mart carry your product right out of the gate, it may not be realistic. Most large retailers want to see a track record of successful sales before agreeing to take on a new product.

Build Your Market

To learn how to bring a product to market, begin by selling directly to end-users. This'll give you confidence that there's demand for your product and will also create referenceable customers that you can contact for product and packaging feedback before you hit the bigger leagues. So where can you reach your end-users?

The web is one highly effective channel, and you can reach your market through your own website or via a site like eBay. You can also tap into your own personal network as you begin. Host a home party to share your product with friends and friends-of-friends, sell through local community groups and e-mail your network.

Once you get feedback directly from your customers, refine the packaging and price point before approaching your next market--wholesalers. You'll probably start with small, independently owned, local stores. It's a good idea to start with them before hitting larger chain stores because it's easier to get in touch with the direct decision-maker, and they're more inclined to take on new, unique or hard-to-find items to differentiate themselves from larger stores. To sell to these retailers, be prepared and bring a product sell sheet, photos, product samples (if possible) and a succinct introductory letter to explain what's in it for them, highlighting your product's profit margin, features and benefits, and proven sales record.

Expand to New Markets

Once you've established sales strength with independent retailers and are ready to support new markets, it's time to sell to the big guns. Of course, exactly who those big guns are will depend on your product. For some, it's powerhouse general mass retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, while other products will fit more specialized but equally powerful retailers, like Williams-Sonoma, The Sharper Image and Sephora.

Note that when dealing with these major accounts, the sale is just the beginning of the deal. Handling fulfillment, returns, rollbacks, slotting fees, advertising and more will require strengthening your business's infrastructure and resources.

But back to the sale. What's the best way to approach a larger retailer? Here's a quick cheat sheet:

1. Get the correct buyer: One of your biggest challenges is finding the right buyer within a large organization, so do your homework. If you're experiencing roadblocks, consider hiring a distributor or manufacturer's rep who already has established relationships in your industry.
2. Be prepared: Develop a presentation and have professional-looking sell sheets ready. Your product should also have packaging that's ready to go.
3. Know your target: Understand what products they already carry and how yours will fit in. Don't waste your time pitching to a retailer who's unlikely to carry your product.
4. Take advantage of special programs: Some mass retailers, such as Wal-Mart, have local purchase programs that give managers authority to try local items. And other retailers may have different initiatives, such as minority business programs.
5. Be patient: It can take up to a year or longer before you see your product on score shelves, so don't get frustrated. And if the final answer is no, try to turn it into a learning experience.

Finally, remember there are other sales channels besides the traditional brick-and-mortar retail store. Catalogs, TV shopping networks and online stores can also be excellent methods to enable you to learn how to market a product online.

Socializing (Making small talk and developing a conversation) HOW TO MAKE WORK SHCEDULE

    Business travel is a journey undertaken by the employee / employee of an institution / company related to the duties of an institution / company related to official job duties. Official job duties are related to the job duties of the institution / company concerned.
A business trip is a journey undertaken by the employee / employee of an institution / company related to business interests.

So a business / office leadership is a journey undertaken by the leadership of an institution or company in order to carry out official duties / tasks the company's business.
After leaders told about his departure, the secretary must pay attention to the following matters:
1. Purpose of trip
2. The date of departure and return
3. Date, time, place and with anyone leaders make the appointment / principal activities of travel agencies / businesses.
4. Preparation of transportation and travel documents
5. Hotel / inn desired

6. Transport what is required of each visit, the city of destination

MAKE WORK SCHEDULE / ACTIVITIES LEADERS / LEADERS WORK AGENDA

Work schedule / agenda of the leadership can be made with columns of varying shapes depending on the tastes of companies / offices respectively.
But in essence the same basis that the column consists of:
Number, day and date, time, description of the activities and information.

                                   AGENDA WORK / ACTIVITY LEADER

PT PEARL OF LOVE
Jalan Mawar 421
SURAKARTA
PERIOD ............................ S / D .................. .............
         
NO
DAY DATE
TIME
DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES
INFORMATION





















                                                                                              Surakarta, ........................

                                                                                                 Secretary


                                                                                          ...............................................


LETTER OF TASK
Letter assignment is an assignment letter containing an official / employee to carry out special tasks given by the office / company concerned.
The sections consist of letter of assignment letter head, letter and letter feet.
How to compose a letter of assignment:
1. Choose a form letter in accordance with the guidelines for the determination of correspondence in the office concerned.
2. Write a letter head if the paper used is not use letterhead.
3. Designing introductory paragraphs appropriately.
4. Designing a paragraph of content / core that contains the identity of the assignor, duty bearers, etc. The types of tasks.
5. Designing a concluding paragraph.
6. Write a letter feet.
7. Typing draft letter that has been initialed
8. The signing of the letter of assignment.

WARRANT BUSINESS TRAVEL / DEPARTMENT (SPPB / SPPD)

SPPB / SPPD is a letter that contains the assignment to the region within a predetermined time and at a cost of office / company / country.
Parts warrants a business trip consists of letterhead, letter and letter feet. The data that must be included in the contents of the letter are:
1. The official who gave the command
2. The name and identity of the receiving order
3. The purpose of the trip office / business
4. Transport used
5. Duration of trip
6. The purpose of the trip
7. Travel expenses
8. Remarks

BUSINESS TRAVEL SCHEDULE

Schedule a business / office is a list perinian trip that will be passed to the task.
List of trips made in 4 (four) to be given to the leadership, colleagues and secretaries. The goal is to know that the leadership was traveling on business or department.
The things that must be considered in managing a business / office is:

1. Purpose of trip
2. State the purpose
3. Type of travel
4. What kind of services / facilities to be used
5. Plan your appointments and purposes
6. Date, time, day of departure and return.
How to create tangible business trip schedule columns of diverse shape / model, but basically the same.
The column consists of:
1. Serial number
2. The day, date, time
3. airfield / station
4. Flight number / train
5. Arriving at the destination city / point of interest
6. Hotel / inn
7. Activity.

Meetings (Asking for dan giving opinions)

HOW TO HANDLE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Customer complaints are inevitable, no matter how streamlined your business. They must always be acknowledged and dealt with effectively. By ignoring or dismissing complaints, you are effectively telling the customer that you don’t value their opinions.

Many business owners see complaint management as a time-consuming and frustrating process. However, by developing an efficient system, complaints can be resolved quickly and easily.

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Here is a step-by-step guide to dealing with dis-satisfied customers.

Taking the Complaint

• When a customer first makes a complaint, take a step back. It can be difficult to remain impassive in the face of criticism, but an emotional response will only serve to irritate the customer further.   
• Give the customer your full attention and listen to the whole problem before responding. Put yourself in their shoes - if you had a problem, you would want someone to listen to you. Appearing disinterested, or attempting to argue back, will only exacerbate the situation.
• Don’t jump the gun. You might deal with complaints on a regular basis, and may well have handled a similar situation before. However, for the customer, their complaint is unique to them. Treat them as an important individual by listening to their problem in full.  
• Try to understand. In the face of a complaint, it’s easy to be defensive - particularly if you don’t believe you’re at fault. However, you have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes. If you were on the receiving end of their experience, would you personally be satisfied?
• Always use your initiative when dealing with complaints. If the blame lies with one particular member of staff, it is often best to remove the customer from their presence. This can defuse tension and emotion, and help the customer to re-evaluate their anger.
• However, never pass the customer around from person to person. Each complaint should ideally be handled by one staff member. Therefore, you should always ensure that the person assigned to the case has the authority to deal with the situation.

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Finding a Solution

• Once the customer has aired their grievance, you should immediately give a sincere apology. Any number of factors could have contributed to the issue, and you might not be at fault. However, you need to take responsibility for the problem. Sometimes, an apology is all it takes to placate an angry customer.
• Customers never want to hear excuses. However, you are fully entitled to briefly explain why they didn’t receive the standard of service they expected. This should take place after you’ve listened to their complaint and made an apology.
• Sometimes, a complaint will be followed by a request for compensation - typically a refund or a voucher. However, customers often haven’t planned beyond making the initial complaint. In these cases, ask the customer for their desired outcome. This makes them feel both involved and valued.

Every business should have a contingency plan in place for customer complaints.

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Create something you can quickly and easily offer as a consolatory gesture, such as money-off vouchers or a free product.

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Useful Tips for Dealing with Complaints

• Try to remain calm when dealing with a complaint - even if the customer becomes irate or confrontational.
  Your ultimate aim is to turn their negative experience into a positive one, but arguing back will only make the situation worse.
• Complaints should always be resolved as quickly as possible.
  The aim is to make the customer feel as though their problem is being treated as a priority, without being rushed.
• Keep comprehensive records of all customer complaints, from the initial problem to the eventual solution.
  You can then periodically assess these records, identifying any common complaints, and taking steps to improve company processes.
• All customer-facing staff members should be trained to deal with complaints.
  If possible, give your employees some authority when it comes to issuing refunds or other consolatory gestures. Forcing the customer to wait for a manager can make a bad situation worse.

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Businesses live or die by their reputations

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to prevent poor customer experiences. However, by handling any complaints quickly and effectively, it’s possible to salvage negative situations. 

Find more at: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/rhubarb/dealing-with-complaints.html#ixzz4RYoC9fwR

Meetings (Giving a report)

Prepare a Report about a Product and How to Develop it

     Many people are often still confused with the term marketing research. Marketing research (marketing research) often still equated with market research (market research), even though both are different terms. Market research focused on the market which have been specifically determined. Meanwhile, marketing research has a wider meaning. Marketing research is not only focused on aspects of the market or product, but also includes things beyond that. In short, market research can be called as part of a marketing research.
Marketing research has three main functions for the company, namely:

A. Evaluating

The function of the first marketing research is evaluating. Marketing research conducted for this function is typically used to evaluate marketing programs that have been done before. Evaluating the marketing research function is also included when the company wanted to do a review of brand positioning compared to competitors' products.

B. Understanding

The second function of marketing research is understanding. The function of marketing research is emphasizing the goal to understand the customer as one insight or input is very important for the company. By understanding the consumer, the company will find out what the needs and complaints of consumers. In carrying out this function is, the marketing research conducted usually is research depicting portraits habits and consumer behavior as well as their hopes and grievances against the product.

C. Predicting

The third marketing research function is predicting. Marketing research function is a function of the latter is actually the most difficult to do. The world is full of uncertainty, so that the prediction made in marketing research is risky because it is very relative. When a brand wants to target the new market, the marketing research is always used as the main reference material. Likewise when the company wanted to devise new marketing strategies, marketing research is still a major assessment.

what we have to prepare when we want to sell a product or service? We must have the tricks of telling for prospective customers interested and want to buy the products or services that we offer. If from the beginning of the prospective consumers are not interested in the products or services that we offer, how they want to buy? How can they believe in the product or service?

To answer these kinds of questions, you should prepare a "sales presentation". Sales presentation should be prepared appropriately for the target to whom you want to buy a product or service. This presentation is so important and a beginning that will determine your end result.

Sales presentation this time packed in the concept of "Stand Up Selling". Stand up selling teach you how to open a fascinating presentation, prospective customers know the problems, provide solutions, and make your prospects buy your products or services you offer.

The final goal of the "Stand Up Selling" is selling. To do this, follow these courses to sharpen your skills and learn more tips in selling.

source :http://ciputrauceo.net/blog/2016/4/28/riset-pemasaran-dan-cara-menyusun-riset-pemasaran

Presenting (visual information)

Visual aids

The most common technique for making lectures and presentations more interesting and effective is the use of visual aids. Lecture can be a tedious and not be an effective way to deliver lessons. Visual aids are used in presentations and lectures to illustrate the subject, helping to overcome the monotony, providing a visual stimulant to reinforce what is being heard by learners. Visual aids are very common are:

• Overheads (also known as OHP, slides or transparencies)
• slide photo
• Powerpoint presentation
• Objects, pictures or documentation which is handed around the class but not a handout
• For more detail on developing effective visual aids will be given in the Teaching aids section.

How presenters and lecturers assessed by the participants?

Making presentations and delivering lectures can be a very daunting experience, especially since most of us who have received speeches in the past. It would be very good to remember how we might be judged or received by our audience. There are three main areas on which a speaker's competence may be judged:

Knowledge: technical competence and practical experience
Design and delivery: the "performance", including: voice control; eye contact, body language, use and support of audio-visual; facilitation in the discussion; effort to make learning fun
Spirit: interest in the subject; listening skills; the ability to answer the questions
How to make lectures and presentations more interactive

Lectures can be the most appropriate way to obtain factual information that a lot of groups of people. However, this study should not require conversation (monologue) the length of the speaker, as there are ways of breaking up the delivery to add variety and interest. Here are some suggestions:

Interruptions (short stop) lecture with questions to the class
Make a series of mini lectures and class activities
Make small groups (buzz groups) - set a specific question and ask the learners to discuss it in pairs
Provide partial handouts to be fitted (filled) by the class during the lecture
Give the class a short piece of relevant reading
Give the class quiet time (time to think: ask learners to read their notes, think about a problem, or summarize an idea in their heads)

Describing Trends, Graphs, And Changes

In business and everyday English, you sometimes have to describe changes in trends (movement or tendency), graphs, and diagrams.

In the business context, you may have to describe trends in reports, meetings, and presentations. In everyday life, you could describe changes in any subject because things change all the time!

Describing changes and trends generally consists of three parts:

• Use a verb (or an adjective and a noun) to describe movement
• Describe the speed or size of the movement
• Explain the reason or consequence of the change

You can also view it this way: Verb + Speed or Size + Result/Reason/Consequence

Example 

In 2011, Samsung's profits increased considerably thanks to its successful Galaxy S series.

Part 1

Here are some verbs you can use to describe change and movement.

Upward  Movement

To climb

To rise

To go up

To improve

To pick up

To recover

To increase

To reach a peak

Downward Movement

To fall

To decline

To bottom out

To decrease

To drop

To plummet

To deteriorate

To hit a low

To slip back

To do down

Horizontal Movement

To even out

To remain stable

To stabilize

Part 2

Here are some adjectives and adverbs you can use to describe the speed and size of change.

Speed of Change

Rapid - Rapidly

Slow - Slowly

Sudden - Suddenly

Sharp - Sharply

Steady - Steadily

Gradual - Gradually

Fast - Quickly

Size of Change

Noticeable - Noticeably

Substantial - Substantially

Considerable - Considerably

Slight - Slightly

Significant - Significantly 

Dramatic - Dramatically

Negligible - Negligibly

Part 3

Here are some expressions you can use to express reason, consequence, and result:

• As a result of
• Due to
• Because of
• Was the reason for
• Caused
• Resulted in
• Explains
• Accounts for
• That is why
• Consequently
• So
• Thanks to

Time Expressions You Can Use

• In January / In 2011
• In Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4 (In the first quarter / second quarter / third quarter / fourth quarter)
• From January to March

Examples

• Apple's sales increased significantly due to the launch of the iPhone 4.
  [verb + adverb construction]
  
  There was a significant increase in Apple's sales due to the launch of the iPhone 4.
  [adjective + noun (word) construction]

• Our turnover remained stable in January and February. However, in March and April, it dropped suddenly as a result of the financial crisis.
  [verb + adverb construction]
  
  In March and April, there was a sudden drop in our turnover as a result of the financial crisis.
  [adjective + noun (word) construction]

Showing understanding and suggesting solutions

Showing understanding and suggesting solutions

Business Result

Starting at the top one, take turns explaining your situation to your partner and responding to theirsuggestions about what you should do.

Situation 1

You’ve applied for three promotions and didn’t get any because your English isn’t

good enough, but the company hardly ever pays for English courses.

Your company rarely or never advertises jobs internally, and sometimes long after advertising themexternally.

Situation 2

Your project manager only gives negative feedback.

Annual appraisals don’t always happen, perhaps because the managers don’t

like doing them.

Some managers have bad communication skills.

Situation 3

You only got one week of training when you first joined the company, and nothing since then.

I can rarely ask my colleagues questions because I am always out visiting customers.

All my projects are very different, so it’s difficult to be an expert in all those

different things.

Situation 4

People don’t work together as a team. There’s an Employee of the Month award,

but it just makes people more selfish.

All the situations above are actually in one company. Work together to decide how the company’s systems should be changed.

Source :

https://tefltastic.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/showing-understanding-and-suggesting-solutions.pdf