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Sunday 22 September 2013

Presenting Ideas To Management

By Dom Richards


Organisation and coordination of meetings is difficult and can be daunting, difficulty decreases with time and experience. Why schedule a meeting. Sorting something out is a big motivator for calling a meeting. Why would someone need to sort something out. Its all about job satisfaction and we all want to do well and know we tried are hardest and we rely on others to make a lot of decisions in the workplace..

SO...What do you need to know: Who to invite the meeting - People with influence and who can produce something that will assist you. Who not to invite to the meeting - People who shoot from the hip and put up road blocks for the sake of it. How long the meeting should go for - Depends on what your agenda is, but don't be afraid to book out 30mins-60mins if its only going to take 10mins (people love meetings that are efficient and to the point).

Presentation slides are important for the meeting but ensure you have the facilities available. If anyone needs to bring something along ensure you give them plenty of notice for it to be a success. Create an action list / agenda items / accountability for the key issues to be discussed.

Most importantly, during the meeting remain calm even if things get heated. A clear mind will always prevail. Have a few slides prepared if they are necessary. Follow the agenda items as listed below for success. Agenda: Context - Talk about why you called the meeting, and the issues you have. Stakeholders - Talk about why you invited certain people and make them feel important and valued. Your position - Talk about some of your ideas for solution, this will lead to a discussion so be ready to answer plenty of questions. Action items - Detail the work that's still required to resolve the issues and agree on who is doing them and by when. Close out - Thank everybody and let them know you appreciate their time and efforts.

When presenting to management its always a daunting task and you need to understand what it is that they find useful to see and hear. Congratulations that you have the opportunity to present to management, its not something that everyone gets a chance to do. What does management want. To understand the work in progress and ensure its in line with their vision for the future. They also want to reward good performance and it is a credit to you that you are an 'adviser' to the management team. What do you want from management. This is obviously different for each individual but in general we want recognition, money or power. This is a harsh way of framing it however when we break down motivation it is quite simple.

Trust and respect are key elements of what you want at the end of any presentation or interaction. With trust you can continue on as you were and make decisions with the backing of your peers and managers without feeling like you continually need to justify your position. Respect is more around the recognition for your work and respect leads to further job opportunities and additional workload. With trust and respect you can change an organisation.

Presentation tips and tricks

It is often handy to start with time lines, the time line shows where you started, where you are now and what you have to go. You can then explain deviations from plan as you go, current status and future work.

This is the standard model for leaving lasting positive impressions, don't finish you presentation on a negative

If there are touchy elements to the presentation , get them over with early, and allow room for discussion if the audience is engaged, but be prepared for the questions that will come. A good way to do this is read your presentation , think really negatively and brainstorm all the hard questions you could ask yourself. Nobody should be a harsher critic than you personally.

Graphics and pictures are great but also remember that we all learn in different ways. In general men prefer pictures and women are more linguistic.

Keep presentation of complex ideas to a minimum and keep it simple for a lasting effect.

Remember we are all human and we all make mistakes and we all have our strengths, show them yours.




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