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Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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Dr. Brian Shmaefsky
Shmaefsky Consulting &
Professor of Biology
Kingwood College
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 A purposeful gathering of people
 A goal oriented work session
 A productive use of communal time
 A cooperative group effort
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 A time to educate all parties about safety issues
 A time to discuss pertinent safety concerns
 A time for two-way communication
 A time to resolve problem issues
 A time to instill a safety ethic
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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A waste of everybody’s time
 An open time for other than safety discussions
 A gripe session about working conditions
 A formality because it is required
 A finger-pointing session
 An arena to embarrass or shame people
 A safety statistics session
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Meetings require a:
– Structure
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Plan
Goal
– Strategy
 Meeting members have roles:
– Managers
– Contributors
– Consumers
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Structure
– Organized
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Follows an agenda
Is rehearsed
 Plan
– Have a target audience
– Have a philosophy or mission
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky
 Goals
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Has delineated objectives for that meeting
Has measurable outcomes
 Strategy
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Has a designated leader
Follows the structure
Sticks to the plan
Meets the goals

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•Manager – Safety officer
•Plans meeting
•Organizes meeting
•Sets goal of meeting
•Contributor – Management or employee reps
•Identifies issues
•Sets goal of meeting
•Consumer – Management and employees
•Object of goals
•Beneficiary of goals
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 TQM – Total Quality Management
– Designing a flexible format into meetings that meet the current and emerging goals of the organization
 Define the rules of the meeting
 Define goals and needs of the organization
 Delineate immediate goals of each meeting
 Define individual and team roles of members
 Define committee structures (purposes & deadlines)
 Evaluate measurable outcomes and success of meeting
 Solicit feedback to improve future meetings
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Effective meeting checklist
 Guidelines or Order
 Agenda (topics)
 Meeting manager
 Recorder
 Documentation
 Follow-up
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Rules for running the meeting
– Keep control over the rules and plan
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Maintain integrity of the goals and strategy
Limit the types of discussions to those related to the goals of the meeting
Maintain an order of speaking
Provide a set format for discussion and arguments
(Guidelines and rules must be effective & be followed)
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

 Hand it out a reasonable time before meeting
 Have start and stop times
 Provide all topics and points of discussion
 Stick to the agenda
 Only change agenda with approval mechanism
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(A good agenda provides direction and meets the group’s goals)
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Have a designated meeting manager
– Must have authority over other members
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Duties may be distributed between two people
There must be defined roles for manager(s)
 Keeps a list of alternates that cannot be argued
 Keeps meeting on agenda
 Keeps track of guidelines
 Makes decisions
 Manages members
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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A designated person
Takes accurate notes
Keeps notes that follow agenda format
Keeps track of all conversation at meeting
Collects and archives documentation
Keeps track of time for discussions
Prepares & distributes timely draft copies for review
Prepares final copy after getting input from review
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Distribute in advance any documents discussed in a meeting
 Use printed charts, graphs, & tables for information to members
 Hand out hard copies of audiovisual presentations for members and records
 Handle documents with any needed confidentiality
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Review how the guidelines, rules, and agenda were adhered to for each meeting
 Evaluate whether the guidelines,rules, and agenda were effective for each meeting
 Solicit member response for their perceptions of each meeting:
– Did the meeting flow smoothly?
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Did the meeting meet the intended goals?
Was the meeting completed on time?
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Keep the meeting time and location convenient for all members
Keep the meeting time to less than 2 hours
Hand out agenda and documents at least one week in advance
Stay on agenda and avoid diversions
Have adequate space for seating and presentations
Monitor the meeting to stay on agenda and on time
Solicit input from all members
Clean up meeting room so others can use it later
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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Have committees run by more than 5 lead people
Wait for late members
Use meetings “just to meet” or maintain status quo
Allow members to speak off agenda or ramble on about a topic
Let more than one speaker talk at a time
Assign too much committee work after one meeting
Run past the designated stop time of the meeting
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 Is rehearsed and reviewed
 Has an introduction given a stated goal
 Solicits orderly audience responses
 Uses real cases or statistics
 Does not place blame or intimidate
 Leaves time for questions and answers
 Allows room for critique to evaluate effectiveness
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 People learn best by interacting with information:
– Through discussion
– Through hands-on experience
 People remember:
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20% of what they hear
30% of what they see
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50% of what the hear & see
80% of what they hear, see, & experience
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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 People learn best when safety meetings:
– Are upbeat
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Are organized
State accurate information
– Provide valuable information
– Give ample opportunities for people to absorb the information and relate it to their jobs or lives
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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Lead production chemist in chemical industry
Workforce trainer – Biotechnology & Industrial Hygiene
University department head & college administrator
Professional organization chair
NGO chair
Civic organization chair
Political action group lobbyist – environmental issues
Journalist – did stories on a variety of safety issues
Given over 100 professional presentations
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky

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A good meeting should not leave you dog tired from stress!
Dr. Brian R. Shmaefsky