There you are: All your balloons are filled and floating nicely above you because your hands control the strings! Then...suddenly P.O.P. !!! ..... One breaks open and upsets the group. "The Pitfalls of Personality" emerges. It lurks in most groups in one form or another, such as in: The “Dominator”: They have something to say about every little thing, and will even repeat it a couple of times in case someone missed it. The “Grump”: They always find the negative

Why do most of us dread meetings? Usually because so many of them go on and on…without Direction and Control. So if you are in charge of a meeting, or responsible for setting it up for the chair, here are some basics to have a "good" meeting: One in which everyone leaves feeling it was productive and not a waste of their time. 1. Plan the agenda… (see the Checklist “GPS”) 2. Send the agenda out in advance with any materials that are required for review 3. List the designee

The Checklist is your organization “GPS” to a successfully completed task (event, project, etc.). It is an essential tool in a Manager's Toolbox. No endeavor is TOO small to benefit from its use. A Checklist is simply a breakout of all the parts that make up the whole of the task, etc. Each part is an item on the Checklist. Each item must have a responsible designee and the date due for its completion. Get in the habit of taking the time upfront to plan your "GPS" route be