THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
rodwelch@pacbell.net


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: February 5, 1996 10:38 AM Monday; Rod Welch

Received AP article on management communications from meetings.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Managers Waste 70% of the Day in Unproductive Meetings
3...Examples are meetings at PG&E beginning on 941211
4...Management is Mostly Communication
5...Solutions - Planning, Organization, Records
6...Facilitator
7...Unproductive Meetings Costly
8...Prepare to Succeed
9...Facilitators
10...Solutions are Inadequate


..............
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CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Communications, Feel Good Management, Reengineering PM
Communication Main Factor Management Productivity Success 90% of Time
Organizational Memory Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, How Much
Reengineer Communication SDS Improves Management Adds Metrics Alignme
70% Time Lost in Unproductive Meetings, Article on Study Published by
Care About Productivity Earnings Stock Prices Organizational Memory E
Management Productivity Dialog Listening Communication Meetings Calls
AP Article on Study 70% Time Lost in Unproductive Meetings, Article

3910 -
3910 -    ..
3911 - Summary/Objective
3912 -
391201 - Follow up ref SDS 8 2290 and ref SDS 12 4839.
391202 -
391203 - This article explains the impact of the Information Highway that
391204 - causes meetings to be unproductive.
391205 -
391206 -
391207 -
391208 -
391210 -  ..
3913 -
3914 -
3915 - Analysis
3916 -
391601 - Managers Waste 70% of the Day in Unproductive Meetings
391602 -
391603 - Associated Press reports a study showing managers waste 70% of their
391604 - time in meetings, ref OF 1, due to reasons below. ref SDS 0 5902
391605 -
391606 -        [On 060505 case study shows challenge of discovering the
391607 -        purpose of meetings. ref SDS 83 L17K
391609 -  ..
391610 - Differences in meaning drawn by attendees in meetings cause conflicts
391611 - as seen on 940114 from Cal Tech seminar liturature. ref SDS 7 2074
391612 - More meetings increase mistakes due to limited span of attention,
391613 - discussed in the New World Order paper. ref OF 16 5080
391614 -
391615 -        [On 990225 DOD program manager recognizes SDS improves
391616 -        management productivity by enabling traceability to original
391617 -        sources that is essential for effective communication in
391618 -        meetings. ref SDS 58 6956
391620 -  ..
391621 - On 890809 poor "listening" causes communication to fail, reduces
391622 - productivity and earnings; listening defined as "understanding" and
391623 - "follow up." ref SDS 3 CJ9J
391624 -
391625 -     [On 990303 scientific paper explaining information overload causes
391626 -     mistakes. ref SDS 59 6120]
391628 -      ..
391629 -     [On 980307 Andy Grove, CEO of Intel, takes copious notes to avoid
391630 -     ambiguity of mental maps. ref SDS 48 3668]
391632 -      ..
391633 -     [On 981223 USACE reports SDS improves meetings. ref SDS 56 HS8J
391635 -      ..
391636 -     [On 990204 Commander US Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco
391637 -     District frustrated by poor productivity of meetings. ref SDS 57
391638 -     I68F
391640 -      ..
391641 -     [On 990625 Kaiser Healthwise Handbook has excellent guidelins and
391642 -     procedures to make doctor/patient partnership productive by making
391643 -     meetings productive. ref SDS 62 4752
391645 -      ..
391646 -     [On 990817 Morris at Intel says managers need a commitment to be
391647 -     prepared, which requires diligence. ref SDS 65 6829]
391649 -      ..
391650 -     [On 990928 Amy not sure about committing to performing detailed
391651 -     management, ref SDS 67 3658, wants to be prepared for responding.
391652 -     ref SDS 67 0434]
391654 -      ..
391655 -     [On 020217 SDS improves meetings, Roe Roybuck. ref SDS 70 1332
391657 -      ..
391658 -     [On 030821 Gary is the "history button" using on major DOD project
391659 -     for making meetings productive. ref SDS 75 NH5N
391661 -      ..
391662 -     [On 040116 example of misunderstanding from reliance on
391663 -     conversation that is not analysed for alignment nor confirmed.
391664 -     ref SDS 76 7Q3M
391666 -      ..
391667 -     [On 060428 doctor submitted via electronic transmission
391668 -     (email) full report for PET scan test on 060414; enabled being
391669 -     prepared to facilitate a productive meeting; Millie is
391670 -     doctor's only patient who requests medical reports to be
391671 -     prepared for effective meetings. ref SDS 82 W54F
391673 -  ..
391674 - Information overload, ref OF 16 1675, requires Communication Metrics
391675 - solution developed on 950327. ref SDS 18 6118
391677 -  ..
391678 - The AP study supports Eric Jenett's article reviewed on 940114 about
391679 - poor productivity in meetings. ref SDS 8 2290  On 940901 a manager at
391680 - CDWR cited problem making meetings productive. ref SDS 13 1301
391682 -  ..
391683 - On 951212 communication, understanding and problem handling cited as
391684 - major risk factors that escalate costs. ref SDS 24 4433
391685 -
391686 -     [Example from Asilomar planning on 960326, ref SDS 33 7390.]
391687 -
391688 -     [On 960214 analysis of ABC Night Line program on the effects of
391689 -     wasted management time causing downsizing, ref SDS 29 5022.]
391691 -      ..
391692 -     [On 960920 manager at USACE, Tom Keesling, cited need for better
391693 -     productivity from meetings. ref SDS 38 4261
391695 -      ..
391696 -     [See analysis of "be prepared" as remedy, ref SDS 32 4385.  It
391697 -     seems people are not prepared because executive training focuses
391698 -     on dialog, listening and participating, rather than doing the
391699 -     homework, ref SDS 30 8492, because there is not enough time to
391700 -     read and write. ref SDS 30 5592
391702 -      ..
391703 -     [On 970123 Intel uses constructive confrontation to improve
391704 -     meeting productivity. ref SDS 39 1111
391706 -      ..
391707 -     [On 970723 John Azeveda did not have enough time to obtain closure
391708 -     on issues of lawsuit on Oakland about differing quantities. see
391709 -     ref SDS 43 2026.
391711 -      ..
391712 -     [970707 article on Information Entropy supports this idea. see
391713 -     record at ref SDS 42 0108]
391715 -      ..
391716 -     [On 971126 Dave Vannier spends most of his time in meetings, per
391717 -     record at ref SDS 45 3849.]
391719 -      ..
391720 -     [On 980307 Andy Grove's book "Only the Paranoid Survive" says new
391721 -     realities of business require strong leadership to help managers
391722 -     improve their work practices. ref SDS 48 1566]
391724 -      ..
391725 -     [On 980630 article report that communication is 70% to 90% of
391726 -     manager's time. ref SDS 51 2476]
391728 -      ..
391729 -     [On 980412 CBS News reports information overload. ref SDS 49 8956]
391731 -      ..
391732 -     [On 980803 Max Blodgett at USACE reported people need experience
391733 -     getting SDS records to discover benefits of working intelligently.
391734 -     ref SDS 54 2546
391736 -      ..
391737 -     [On 990731 humor improves meetings. ref SDS 64 0001]
391739 -  ..
391740 - The study found people waste 70% of the day in unproductive meetings.
391741 - ref OF 1 Y353  Information overload from constant meetings is
391742 - compounded by calls and email that makes communication the biggest
391743 - risk in enterprise, explained in POIMS. ref OF 15 IE6L  Time is wasted
391744 - when communication occurs and...
391745 -
391746 -   1.  Purpose unclear
391747 -
391748 -       People do not have enough time to prepare an agenda that guides
391749 -       discussion on solving problems, tracking action items, and
391750 -       taking new initiatives to get things done correctly, on time,
391751 -       and within budget in order to save lives, time, and money.
391752 -
391753 -          [On 060505 case study shows challenge of discovering the
391754 -          purpose of meetings. ref SDS 83 P18O
391756 -        ..
391757 -   2.  Participants unprepared
391758 -
391759 -       If there is an agenda prepared, people do not have enough time
391760 -       to make distribution in time for people to review the record in
391761 -       order to be prepared for discussing critical issues.
391763 -        ..
391764 -       NWO explains common scenarios prevent people from being prepared
391765 -       to make meetings productive. ref OF 16 0645  On 931130 Drucker
391766 -       urges managers to do homework. ref SDS 6 5520  On 940510 HBR
391767 -       article reports managers get information from conversation and
391768 -       printed documents, which can rarely be marshalled in time to
391769 -       prepare for meetings. ref SDS 11 0034  Earlier on 900703 Paul
391770 -       Teicholz reported that systematic research to be prepared by
391771 -       gather relevant data and information is difficult on the job,
391772 -       because people do not have enough time. ref SDS 4 1716
391773 -
391774 -          [On 960326 people resist reading the record to be prepared
391775 -          for working productively. ref SDS 33 LO5G
391777 -           ..
391778 -          [On 990525 people resist writing the record to enable people
391779 -          to read the record in order to be prepared for working
391780 -          effectively. ref SDS 60 0966
391782 -           ..
391783 -          [On 990625 doctors seeing patients every 10 to 15 minutes do
391784 -          not have time to perform requirements for communication by
391785 -          writing the record, making review to be prepared, and
391786 -          providing feedback to verify accuracy of the Medical Chart on
391787 -          patient history. ref SDS 62 1978
391789 -           ..
391790 -          [On 990625 Fortune reports most CEOs don't like to perform
391791 -          detailed management to confirm understandings from meetings,
391792 -          in order to be prepared for effective meetings, and so fail.
391793 -          ref SDS 63 4914]
391795 -           ..
391796 -          [On 000307 research found that good management is a lot of
391797 -          hard work that discourages performance. ref SDS 69 5182
391799 -           ..
391800 -          [On 995025 Andy Grove reports engineers do like to read.
391801 -          ref SDS 61 5110
391803 -           ..
391804 -          [On 020504 study shows professional standards for
391805 -          communication practices and requirements on good management
391806 -          specified in FAR, ISO, Health Care, Covey, Drucker, law,
391807 -          contract notice provisions, and 2,000 years of literacy for
391808 -          contemporaneous documentation for alignment and feedback to
391809 -          work intelligently, quickly, and accurately are ignored in
391810 -          government, business, health care, every sector. ref SDS 72
391811 -          NS6F
391813 -           ..
391814 -          [On 030309 not enough time to read and write the record when
391815 -          people in meetings all day. ref SDS 74 JU6I
391817 -           ..
391818 -          [On 040505 Paris peace conference in 1919 heads of state
391819 -          began holding meetings hoping to avoid keeping records, but
391820 -          found the top people in the world could not remember enough
391821 -          to perform daily work; eventually leadership yielded to an
391822 -          even stronger fear of accountable for failing to get anything
391823 -          done, and so a record of organizational memory was prepared
391824 -          and this change in management practice yielded results that
391825 -          expedited progress. ref SDS 77 MQ49
391827 -           ..
391828 -          [On 040905 article "Analysis Paralysis" explains root cause
391829 -          analysis is a lot of hard work to gather data; proposes root
391830 -          contradition analysis. ref SDS 78 QP9L
391832 -           ..
391833 -          [On 040921 nobody prepared ASB hearing Architecture Committee
391834 -          to review technology for improving productivity meetings by
391835 -          making being prepared fast and easy. ref SDS 79 4J88
391837 -           ..
391838 -          [On 041012 entropy big problem for medical management,
391839 -          reported by UCSF. ref SDS 80 NV9F
391841 -           ..
391842 -          [On 050722 example common scenarios comedy of errors on big
391843 -          DOD project getting fouled up; management degrades to entropy
391844 -          because nobody has command and control of the record.
391845 -          ref SDS 81 PK6Y
391847 -           ..
391848 -          [On 060428 doctor submitted via electronic transmission
391849 -          (email) full report for PET scan test on 060414; enabled
391850 -          being prepared to facilitate a productive meeting; Millie is
391851 -          doctor's only patient who requests medical reports to be
391852 -          prepared for effective meetings. ref SDS 82 W54F
391854 -           ..
391855 -          [On 070301 not enough time to prepare an agenda nor to obtain
391856 -          critical information to prepare for critical decision in
391857 -          meeting at UCSF. ref SDS 84 A29J
391859 -           ..
391860 -          [On 080214 health care coordinator plans to get test report
391861 -          in time for meeting with doctor next week; does not provide
391862 -          enough time to be prepared for a productive meeting.
391863 -          ref SDS 85 4T5F
391865 -        ..
391866 -   3.  Key people absent or come late and miss important stuff.
391867 -
391868 -       If meetings are not productive causing people to waste 70% of
391869 -       the time, then not attending may be seen as a way to improve
391870 -       productivity.
391872 -        ..
391873 -   4.  Conversation veers off course.  Participants don't discuss
391874 -       issues, argue about what was said the last time, or don't
391875 -       contribute.
391877 -        ..
391878 -       Aligns with experience at PG&E on 941211. ref SDS 14 6488  On
391879 -       890523 SDS helps people remember the original subject like
391880 -       Hansel and Gretle used links to find their way back home.
391881 -       ref SDS 1 P13O  On 950228 Morris feels SDS helps people avoid
391882 -       arguing endlessly about who said what at the last meeting.
391883 -       ref SDS 16 1994 Earlier he cited SDS links for helping people
391884 -       remember for staying on course. ref SDS 10 J496  On 950303 he
391885 -       drew a diagram showing how SDS keeps people on target.
391886 -       ref SDS 17 M34O  On 951101 Morris reported people are hiring
391887 -       psychologists because communication fails, people get mad and
391888 -       refuse to cooperate. ref SDS 23 5500
391889 -
391890 -           [On 960326 example people raise unrelated subjects because
391891 -           angry about remembering things differently, but do not
391892 -           invest time for being prepared by reading the record of what
391893 -           actually occurred the last time. ref SDS 33 2M6M
391895 -            ..
391896 -           [On 970123 Intel uses confrontation to resolved differences
391897 -           in memory of events, rather than capture organizational
391898 -           memory so people can be prepared to remember accurately.
391899 -           ref SDS 39 1111
391901 -            ..
391902 -           [On 020217 DOD meeting requirements cite problem of finger
391903 -           pointing in blame and accusation because people cannot point
391904 -           to a record of relevant organizational memory on work
391905 -           history. ref SDS 70 9360
391907 -        ..
391908 -   5.  Lack of follow up [see NWO..., ref OF 16 6156]
391909 -
391910 -          [On 890809 poor "listening" causes communication to fail,
391911 -          lowers productivity and earnings; listening defined as
391912 -          "understanding" and "follow up." ref SDS 3 CJ9J
391914 -           ..
391915 -          [On 040116 example of misunderstanding from reliance on
391916 -          conversation that is not analysed for alignment nor
391917 -          confirmed. ref SDS 76 7Q3M
391918 -
391920 -  ..
391921 - A key aspect of Communication Metrics defined on 950327 is adding
391922 - understanding and follow up to supplement leadership in communication.
391923 - ref SDS 18 7777.
391925 -      ..
391926 -     [On 970123 Intel uses constructive confrontation to improve
391927 -     meeting productivity. ref SDS 39 1111]
391929 -      ..
391930 -     [On 980307 Andy Grove's book "Only the Paranoid Survive" says new
391931 -     realities in the business environment are "strategic inflection
391932 -     points." ref SDS 48 3151]
391934 -      ..
391935 -     [On 980510 Reuters reports productivity declined and unit costs
391936 -     rose dramatically in 1st quarter of 1998. ref SDS 50 0000]
391938 -      ..
391939 -     [On 980722 meeting agendas and notes comprised of Powerpoint
391940 -     slides. ref SDS 53 4105]
391942 -      ..
391943 -     [On 980819 executive uses intelligence to maintian alignment with
391944 -     objective. ref SDS 55 4738]
391946 -      ..
391947 -     [On 980412 CBS News reports information overload. ref SDS 49 8956]
391949 -      ..
391950 -     [On 990225 DOD program manager recognizes SDS improves management
391951 -     productivity by enabling traceability to original sources that is
391952 -     essential for effective communication in meetings. ref SDS 58 6956
391954 -      ..
391955 -     [On 990303 scientific paper explaining information overload causes
391956 -     mistakes. ref SDS 59 6120]
391958 -      ..
391959 -     [On 990924 communiation biggest risk in enterprise, causes high
391960 -     cost of medical mistakes. ref SDS 66 5576]
391962 -      ..
391963 -     [On 991221 study shows doctors do not communicate adequately with
391964 -     patients 90% of the time. ref SDS 68 0001]
391965 -
391966 -
391968 -  ..
391969 - Examples are meetings at PG&E beginning on 941211
391970 - ref SDS 14 6488, and in IT industry reported by Morris on 950228.
391971 - ref SDS 16 1994
391973 -  ..
391974 - On 950605 lawyer explained wasted time because lawyers can't remember
391975 - what was said at the last meeting. ref SDS 19 3960
391976 -
391977 -     [On 960326 meetings for Asilomar planning. ref SDS 33 7390]
391979 -      ..
391980 -     [On 960510 again for Asilomar. ref SDS 35 2943]
391982 -      ..
391983 -     [On 960518 meaning drift causes poor productivity in communication
391984 -     from meetings. ref SDS 36 3734]
391986 -      ..
391987 -     [On 960721 meetings at Intel, Lockheed. ref SDS 37 0896]
391989 -      ..
391990 -     [On 970418 received report by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that
391991 -     Communication Metrics improves meetings. ref SDS 40 5368]
391993 -      ..
391994 -     [On 970603 Intel needs Communication Metrics. ref SDS 41 5803]
391996 -  ..
391997 - Correlation to hiring psychologists is at ref SDS 23 5500 and to Risk
391998 - Management at ref SDS 23 1759 and at ref SDS 24 4433.
391999 -
392001 -  ..
392002 - Management is Mostly Communication
392003 -
392004 - Author's report that managers spend 60% - 70% of their time in
392005 - meetings ref OF 1 MR6G, supports prior article in HBR stating that
392006 - communication is more than 2/3 of an executives time, ref SDS 11 0034.
392007 -
392008 -     "Communication" mostly means "dialog" and "listening", as seen
392009 -     from top executive training programs, ref SDS 30 0000.
392011 -      ..
392012 -     [See later article that communication is 90% of manager's time per
392013 -     ref SDS 34 6677.]
392015 -  ..
392016 - Solutions - Planning, Organization, Records
392017 -
392018 - The article says planning and organization make meetings productive,
392019 - and recommends two solutions supported by Communication Metrics. see
392020 - ref OF 1 4739 ...
392021 -
392022 -    1.  Prepare an agenda for each meeting. [On 980722 Intel uses this
392023 -        procedure. ref SDS 52 2937]
392025 -         ..
392026 -    2.  Keep records showing action items and the history of
392027 -        performance on each action item. [aligns with ISO criteria for
392028 -        project management reviewed on 950721, ref SDS 21 1740]
392030 -    ..
392031 -   Preparation is a key dimension of Communication Metrics formulated
392032 -   on 950327. ref SDS 18 8822
392033 -   ..
392034 -   Organization is supported by the organic subject structure of
392035 -   SDS, ref OF 15 1110, explained in POIMS, which is part of
392036 -   "intelligence" delivered by Communiation Metrics. ref OF 15 0582
392037 -
392039 -  ..
392040 - Facilitator
392041 -
392042 - The article cites management "experts" recommend using facilitators
392043 - for large meetings, ref OF 1 5733.  This supports PM Mentors
392044 - recommendations reviewed in an article on 950701. ref SDS 20 3580.
392045 -
392046 - On 950204 Morris described SDS as a tool for "facilitator" support.
392047 - ref SDS 15 3682
392049 -  ..
392050 - Weaknesses of conventional facilitator methods that are improved by
392051 - Communication Metrics is explained at ref SDS 15 9562
392052 -
392053 -
392054 -
392055 -
3921 -

SUBJECTS
Cost Benefits Saving Time Money ROI 10:1 People Want Benefits Working
Cost Meetings 70% Time Unproductive Costs Escalates Due to Rework

7104 -
710501 -  ..
710502 - Unproductive Meetings Costly
710503 -
710504 - A calculation of loss for an unproductive meeting of 8 people is shown
710505 - in the article...
710506 -
710507 -        Running bad meetings can be expensive. Lippincott estimates a
710508 -        meeting of eight people who earn $40,000 a year could cost $320
710509 -        an hour, including salary and benefit costs. That's nearly $6 a
710510 -        minute. ref OF 1 4856.
710512 -  ..
710513 - NWO estimates cost of miscommunication that makes meetings
710514 - unproductive, reported on 971229. ref SDS 46 PO3P and more
710515 - specifically. ref SDS 46 1917
710517 -  ..
710518 - To hold down costs the article says technology such as video cameras
710519 - are being used to hold meetings without bringing the participants
710520 - together in the same room.
710521 -
710522 -         [On 020306 Morris introduced Netmeeting at Intel to save cost
710523 -         of travel by conducting "virtual" meetings. ref SDS 73 A08J
710525 -     ..
710526 -    Paying the people in a room and their travel is the least expensive
710527 -    part of the cost people pay for bad management cited by the
710528 -    article. ref SDS 0 5902
710530 -     ..
710531 -    The larger cost of failed communication is that understanding and
710532 -    follow up fail on important matters that are outside of span of
710533 -    attention which leads to endless corrections under a theory of
710534 -    "rework."  The cost of rework to fix mistakes dwarfs the cost of
710535 -    conducting a meeting.
710536 -
710537 -       [On 971008 received report from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
710538 -       calculating cost of wasted time in meetings. ref SDS 44 0000]
710540 -        ..
710541 -       [On 971229 reviewed management training film showing cost of
710542 -       poor communication. ref SDS 46 3481, ref SDS 46 1917]
710544 -        ..
710545 -       [On 020415 CSG calculated the cost of unproductive meetings at
710546 -       $40K per day. ref SDS 71 Q75M
710548 -     ..
710549 -    People inadertantly commingle memory of events in their mind and
710550 -    proceed incorrectly or fail to take the correct action in time.
710551 -    The losses that result under "Murphy's Law" are staggering and lead
710552 -    to more reeningeeing and downsizing.
710553 -
710555 -  ..
710556 - Prepare to Succeed
710557 - Facilitators
710558 - Solutions are Inadequate
710559 -
710560 - Facilitators are inadequate for the reasons at ref SDS 15 9562. The
710561 - article's suggestion that agendas be prepared and that attendees
710562 - prepare for meetings, are not good solutions because people do not
710563 - have enough time per discussion with Dave at Intel, ref SDS 22 line
710564 - 300, absent a tool that automatically creates agendas and provides the
710565 - history of prior events linked into current tasks and objectives.
710567 -  ..
710568 - There is no structural discipline that ties rewards to performance, as
710569 - in a contract setting, such as Turner will explain at Asilomar, ref
710570 - SDS 11 line 98.
710571 -
710572 -
710573 -
710574 -
710575 -
7106 -

SUBJECTS
Too Many Meetings, Faxes, E-mail,
Information Highway
Information Revolution
Failed Communications, Anger, Frustrations
Leadership Communications

7607 -
760801 -  ..
760802 - The article reviewed above, ref OF 1 line 10 offers support for the
760803 - themes under consideration for the Asilomar evert.
760804 -
760805 -    [See follow up at ref SDS 26 line 115.]
760806 -
760807 -
760808 -
760809 -
760810 -
760811 -
760812 -
760813 -
760814 -
7609 -