One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
One of the hardest parts of leading a meeting is getting people to own action items.
So make your coworkers’ lives easier and boost your career by taking these five steps during the meetings you attend.
5 steps to own action items and make a positive impact
If you attend more meetings than you lead and you’re looking for a way to make a positive impact for your business when you’re not the meeting leader, take these five steps.
You’ll make an immediate contribution to the meeting you’re in.
And over time, you’ll strengthen your credibility and build trust with your teammates.
When you own action items like this, everyone will want you on their team and in their meetings.
One assumption before we begin
This should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway.
These 5 steps to own action items will only work if you actually complete the action items you own during your meetings!
Owning action items from meetings includes doing them!
As I said, that should go without saying, but I know you’ve worked with people who seem to miss that critical part of the process.
They accept action items but don’t get them done – or they don’t meet the deadline.
You’re not like that so I’m working on the assumption that when you own an action item during a meeting, you WILL do it.
You’ll finish it on time – and probably early!
These 5 steps you take during the meeting will help you do that consistently.
Number 5 is especially helpful.
We’ll get to it momentarily, but let’s start with step 1.
Step 1 – Own action items as soon as you see them
When you’re actively engaged in a meeting discussion, you’re “in the arena” as Theodore Roosevelt described it in his famous speech.
You’re not a spectator.
For instance, when you’re working with a team to solve a problem, you’ll spot exactly where you need to do work.
So, don’t wait for the meeting leader to see what you’ve already seen.
Speak up and own your action item.
You can say something like this:
“Hey, Max. To help solve this problem, I need to do some work after this meeting. Would you please put in the meeting notes that I’m going to [insert your action item here]?”
When you own action items as soon as you see them, you’re demonstrating you’re proactive and eager to do work within your area of responsibility.
And, you’re making the meeting more efficient and productive by speaking up quickly.
Step 2 – Own action items before they’re given to you
You can see how important this step is by answering a question.
First, think back to all the meetings you’ve attended during your career and how many times you’ve experienced something like this.
The leader identifies an action item and then asks who should own it.
And silence fills the room.
Everyone avoids eye contact as the meeting leader starts asking for volunteers.
Here’s the question for you:
How many hours of your career have been wasted during this process?
Your answer is probably the same as mine:
Too many!
So when you’re in this situation and need to own action items, do it quickly.
Don’t waste everyone’s time.
Even when you don’t really WANT to own action items that truly belong to you because you it means you’re going to have more work to do later, acknowledge reality.
Raise your hand and open your mouth.
Waiting and hoping someone else will take on work that belongs to you isn’t going to change anything.
And it’s not what respected leaders do.
Mature leaders own action items that rightly belong to them.
And when it isn’t clear who in the organization should own action items, strongly consider accepting those too.
If you have the capacity and ability to complete an important action item, own it.
By taking on responsibilities beyond your official duties (when you’re able), you’re demonstrating the “Hungry” trait Patrick Lencioni describes as a key element of an Ideal Team Player.
Those Ideal Team Players who are Humble, Hungry, and Smart are coveted within good organizations.
This is one of the many ways to own action items and build your career.
Here’s another one.
Step 3 – Own action items by being specific
The most valuable action items are specific not vague.
They are clear and understood by everyone involved.
So when you own action items be sure to state exactly what you are committing to do.
You want to ensure what is recorded in the meeting notes as your action item is what you’re going to go execute.
Now is the time to have healthy conflict and align on the specific work that needs to be done.
You don’t want to discover during your next meeting that you failed to do what was needed for the business to be successful.
Drive out any miscommunication around the action item now and avoid wasting time.
Be specific about WHAT you are going to do when you own action items.
But that’s not enough.
Step 4 – Own action items by committing to a date
This is where most people fall short when they own action items.
They won’t commit to completing the action item by a specific date.
And, that’s understandable.
Including an exact date when you own action items introduces accountability.
And, all of us resist being held accountable at times.
It’s much easier to say you’re going to do something but not say when you’ll get it done.
When I own an open-ended action, I can do it when it’s convenient to me – which may not be when my teammates and the business need it to be done.
With no deadline for my action items, I don’t have to work with urgency.
I can if I want to, but I don’t have to.
It’s my choice.
The work will get done when I get it done. And no one can say I’m late.
That’s convenient, but not good for any business.
Take a different approach.
When you own action items in a meeting, state clearly when you’re going to complete the work.
And, going back to the point in Step 2 about wasting time during meetings, don’t make the meeting leader drag a deadline out of you.
When you state an exact date when you’ll complete your action item, you’ll show others that you understand how things should be done.
You know what it takes to lead a productive, effective meeting and what the business needs from its leaders to be successful.
You’re the kind of leader every organization needs.
But remember this.
Even the most experienced leaders need to check themselves with Step 5.
Step 5 – Own action items with humility
The best leaders are the most self-aware leaders.
So stay on the alert and watch out for the traps your ego will set for you when you own action items.
When you’re a proactive, energetic leader you’re eager to take on work.
But, you’ve got to be honest with yourself.
You should only own action items you can complete.
Sometimes people in meetings will volunteer to do something they can’t do.
Or they’ll commit to a timeframe that isn’t reasonable.
Their ego fools them into saying Yes when they should say No.
Speaking up to own action items like this will make you look good in the short term.
But your credibility will be destroyed when you fail to meet your commitments.
You’ll do damage to your career and to your coworkers.
There’s another, more subtle, way your good intentions can unintentionally have a negative impact on the organization and others.
There are times when you can own action items but shouldn’t.
You need to give the work back as I learned in my Kansas Leadership Center training.
Those who have responsibility for action items should own them.
If you consistently do work that belongs to another person, you’re crippling them.
They aren’t developing the skills they need to be successful in their role.
And you’re robbing them of the satisfaction and fulfillment that comes with being part of making progress and providing meaningful contribution to the business.
So, stay humble when you own action items.
It’s good for you, your teammates, and your organization.
5 steps to own action items during meetings
Follow these 5 steps during your meetings and you’ll make every meeting you attend more productive and effective.
And you’ll show give your career a boost as you demonstrate what being a proactive, trustworthy leader looks like.
1 – Own action items as soon as you see them
2 – Own action items before they’re given to you
3 – Own action items by being specific
4 – Own action items by committing to a date
5 – Own action items with humility
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
Here are a few of my blog posts that are relevant to this discussion:
✅ Ask “Who Needs to Do What by When?” Drive Results!
✅ Why I Don’t Want to Ask “Who Needs to Do What by When?”
If you’re a fan of Patrick Lencioni like I am, you’ll appreciate his book, The Ideal Team Player.
Here are some Ideal Team Player resources you can explore.
✅ Patrick Lencioni’s 13 minute TEDx talk
✅ The official website for The Ideal Team Player
✅ A free summary (an exceptional resource to keep handy)
✅ A Coaching for Leaders podcast – How to Get the Ideal Team Player, with Patrick Lencioni (one of my favorite podcasts and episodes)
I made a reference to Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “The Man in the Arena” speech earlier.
He delivered the speech (which was actually entitled “Citizenship in a Republic”) at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910.
Here’s the famous quote from the full speech.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
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That’s All for this Issue
People often miss how important something as basic as how participants own action items during meetings really is.
When you don’t do this, you waste everyone’s time and making meetings inefficient and frustrating.
Not everyone understands this and their meetings and their businesses suffer as a result.
This reinforces something I’ve become convinced of through my 30+ year career.
Fundamental skills are undervalued.
Consistently executing the basics (like owning action items) with excellence is essential for personal and business success.
But I expect you already understand this.
And I’m confident you’re making your organization and your career better with each fundamental skill you do well.
Keep at it! You’re making progress one step at a time.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!
Greg
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- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
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