Meeting Effectiveness – Agenda & Planning

During the College Football Championship game on January 11th Alabama once again asserted its dominance of college football. Although I was rooting for Clemson to win you still have to be in awe of an organization that has won four national titles in the past seven years.  It is hard to put your finger on what it is that sets a football program like Alabama apart.

Surely recruiting is a big piece of the equation but with any organization that enjoys an extended period of success, there seems to be something else that provides that little edge that many times is the difference between hoisting the trophy over your head or walking off the field with your head hung low.

Like him or not Coach Saban is a big part of the success that Alabama has enjoyed in recent years and his calm and confident persona masks a calculating football genius that leaves nothing to chance.

He may consistently have one of the best-recruiting classes in the country but he is not content to sit back and rely on talent alone to deliver victories.  He is a meticulous planner that makes sure his players and staff are prepared for anything and everything that may come their way during a game.

The Power Of Planning Meetings

The morning of every game that Alabama plays, Coach Saban will oversee a staff meeting that is little known outside of the coaching profession, but legendary within it.  It’s one of the most important details of Coach Saban’s intricate “process” and sets him apart, says current and former assistant coaches. You heard it right.  The one thing that gives Alabama that little edge over its competition is none other than a meeting.  This is no ordinary meeting though.  This is a meeting that is meticulously planned and flawlessly executed.

The key to Coach Saban’s preparation rests in these five words.

Nothing Is Left To Chance

In the meeting, Coach Saban won’t just run through a checklist that includes detailed scouting reports on their opponents.  He’ll also review the tendencies of the referees assigned to officiate the game.  Which official is more likely to throw a pass interference flag? That specific detail might be the difference between winning and losing. Hundreds of scenarios and situations are scrutinized.  Ninety percent of what he covers never comes up, but for the 10 percent that does occur the staff and the team are well prepared to respond without having to put a lot of thought into what needs to be done.

How Do You Plan For Your Meetings?

So essential is the meeting to Coach Saban’s success that his former assistants who go on to become head coaches use the same type of game-day meetings to organize their teams.  In Coach Saban’s game-day preparation, there is a job for every detail, an assignment for every scenario, and, more importantly, everyone on the staff knows what to expect before it happens.  It prevents people from making mistakes that are made in the heat of competition when the pressure is on.

What would happen if you treated your projects and meetings the way Coach Saban treats his pre-game meetings and games? Imagine if your meetings were planned like Saban’s pre-game meetings.  Everyone aligned with a common goal and an understanding of the role they each play to achieve that goal.  Everyone not just rowing in the same direction but everyone rowing in sync in the same direction.

 

 

If your meetings could use improvement let us know.  In the near future, we will be launching our Meeting Mastery workshop that is designed to equip you with the skills, process, and tools to make you an outstanding meeting leader and differentiate yourself as someone that gets things done.