Consecrate Morning Meeting

"At the Day of Judgment, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done."

-Thomas a Kempis

Think back to this morning.  Recall how you started your day at work.

How did you consecrate yourself and your staff?
Did you pray together?
Did you share a hymn or an inspirational verse with one another?
Did you do any form of consecration at all?

Certainly, there is much buzz about the separation of church and state when such a subject comes up.  Do not dwell on what you cannot or should not do.  Identify what you can do.

If you own the business, even if it is a franchise, you are welcome to offer staff members a period during the day where they can join others in prayer.  Provide them with a place and time.  Share how your faith has led you to the point of making such an offer. 

Don't get preachy.  Just make the offer.

You can do so by organizing a morning prayer meeting or devotional period 15 to 30 minutes prior to scheduled work time.  This may work on those days where you have that dreaded morning meeting.  Prepare for presentations by dotting each and every "i" and crossing each and every "t," but be sure to also solicit the prayers of your fellow Christians at work. 

Be sure to let people know that it is not mandatory.  Don't try to make it a full-blown worship service.  Just offer it to them.  Those who want it will surely show up and serve as the core group.  Others will drop in as they find themselves in desperate need of prayer and support.  Just make the offer where you can and get started, in prayer of course.

"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." - Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)

Exposure via Events

“If the people have no bread, let them eat cake.”- (Attributed to) Marie Antoinette

Despite the quote attributed to this famed aristocrat of royalty during the French Revolution, simply giving your guests something to chew on doesn't make your special event any more special than a meeting of the local rotary club or Toastmasters.  You need more than veggie trays, finger food and other treats to make your event stand from the norm.

Spice Things Up: Go exotic with dishes.  Partner with Indian, Brazilian and Jamaican caterers for spicy dishes or sample trays.  This may appeal to broaden your appeal to other cultures and ethnic groups.  Spicy dishes such as curry or jerk chicken with some rice can carry enough kick to have your audience raving about the meal and the event for days to come.

Add Some Red Carpet:   People feel like stars when you treat them like stars.  Include a VIP element to your events.  The thrill of the paparazzi snapping photos along the red carpet, even if they are Kodak disposables or HTC camera phones, can cause a stir among attendees and passersby.

Share before You Get There: Use social media to share with others about the event.  Facebook, Twitter and other sites provide great platforms for sharing about upcoming events.  Foursquare and Loopt allow you to "check in" at the location when you arrive and alert others that you are at the place to be.  Make your events the type of experience that people tweet about throughout the event and afterwards. Be sure to include a Like This button or Share button on your event website or registration page.

Make your events newsworthy.  If your event draws press and publicity, then consider it a plus.  If you get a pre-event interview on TV or on a weekend radio show, that's an added bonus. See what type of exposure you get from your efforts.
  

Agenda Action Items

Death by Meeting

"But the fact is, bad meetings are a reflection of bad leaders."-Patrick Lencioni

I don't care what type of organization hosts or holds what type of meetings.  If the organization does not have an agreed and adhered to structure to its meeting, things can go haywire in a hurry.  It can be the YMCA or PTA, people will drift when they are not directed to stick to the structure that is in place.  It can be a corporate annual meeting or a community-based organization's monthly meeting, but there should be an agenda with some action items.

The agenda identifies what will be discussed and reported.  In particular, there are also those action items that will be voted on identified within the agenda.  Many organizations structure their meetings with public comment at the beginning of the meeting.  These are usually appeals or addresses to the board or the entire body.  These are heard out, usually with a time limit like two minutes.  They are not action items and do not require a comment or questioning from the board or the floor.  That's where the discipline must come in with the determined structure.  Some people may know the rules, but something just prevents them from following them.

You may need a sergeant at arms or a parliamentarian. The title may vary, but the functions pretty much run along the same lines.  They keep things in order when the chairperson seems to allow some things to run afoul or astray.  You know some parent meetings for those Pop Warner and Pee Wee teams can get sort of heated.  There may need to be some beefed up measures for an organization to keep order, so review your structure, including roles and rules.

• Roles: Who is supposed to do what? Chairperson... Parliamentarian... Secretary...
• Rules: Robert's Rules of Order? Or, do you use another format? Be sure that all in attendance know what it is.
• Reporting: Written reports versus oral reports... time limits... published or unpublished...
• Responses: Cut down the confusion and cut off people on the board responding to comments from the floor.  Address the outbursts as disorder, ask for them to stop and demonstrate some restraint, and then move on with the agenda.

You maintain order by restricting board members from responding to outbursts from the floor.  If not, there will be a cacophony of chaos as people go back and forth with their various comments and responses to any and every single thing thrown out there.  In many environments like school board meetings and city council meetings, people can have an outburst if they want to, but they most probably will be escorted out into either the hallway or the parking lot by security or some other authority figure.  That's realistic. 


Set it up for success.  If you have been in an organization where the inmates seem to be running the asylum, stop the bleeding and set some order in place.  Share some insights about board training and running public meetings.  Do you accept public funds? You know that redevelopment money or those block grants.  Those are public funds.  That means your meeting- uh-oh- is open to the public.  Learn how to deal with the public in a decent and disciplined manner.