Best-selling author and teamwork consultant Leslie Bendaly knows what it takes to build high-performance teams and in On Track she provides you with dozens of proven tips and techniques that will ensure your meetings ¿ those many and crucial hours you spend in discussions with your colleagues ¿ pay off in results.

Bendaly covers it all ¿ from explaining the basics of meeting design, preparation and facilitation to showing you how to overcome the most common but tough challenges of facilitating a meeting including:
· Getting full participation and creating group energy · Sparking creative thinking and opening minds to others¿ ideas · Managing conflict and dealing with difficult behaviors · Dealing with senior people in your meetings · Making decisions and bringing a group to consensus · Leading a meeting while participating as a team member · Getting members to share responsibility for the meeting¿s success AND everything in between.

Also included is Bendaly¿s Meeting Map (considered a ¿must have¿ by everyone who tries it) to lead you step-by-step through the critical steps necessary in leading a successful meeting.

Whether you are a designated team leader or asked occasionally to lead or chair a meeting, On Track will help you and your colleagues achieve exceptional results in record time. Become a dynamic and effective meeting facilitator and have people leaving your meetings saying, ¿That was a great meeting. We really got results!¿

Speaker, trainer and best-selling author, Leslie Bendaly is recognized internationally as an authority in the fields of teamwork and organizational and personal change. The tools and methods she has developed have been adopted by hundreds of organizations as critical pieces in their development processes. Her books have been selected as mandatory reading in MBA and other post-graduate programs and as handbooks for leaders in many organizations. Other books include the best-selling Strength in Numbers, Games Teams Play, More Games Teams Play, Organization 2000, Winner Instinct, Brain Teasers for Team Leaders and The Facilitation Skills Training Kit. She is based in Toronto.

Introduction // 1

The Role of the Facilitator // 2

Getting the Most from On Track // 5

Chapter 1: The Meeting Map // 11

Pre-Meeting Steps // 13

The Opening // 32

Clarify Objectives // 34

Clarify the Role of the Meeting Facilitator // 38

Develop Meeting Agreements // 40

Describe the Route // 47

The Body // 49

Commitments to Action and Recap // 50

Using the Map // 52

Using the Meeting Map for Regular Meetings // 52

Chapter 2: Making Powerful Decisions // 55

Encountering a Decision-Making Pothole // 55

Decision-Making Methods // 57

Chapter 3: The Tools of the Trade // 65

The Generating and Organizing Ideas Technique // 65

Force Field Analysis // 72

Pros and Cons Chart // 74

Multi-Voting // 76

Priority Sequencing // 77

The Decision-Making Criteria Grid // 77

Chapter 4: Performance Checks // 83

The General Process Check // 84

The Logic Check // 86

Feelings Check // 88

Creativity Check // 89

Chapter 5: Getting People to be Open to Ideas // 93

Tools for Getting People Unstuck // 94

Chapter 6: Dealing with Difficult Behaviors // 99

Tapping People¿s Best // 99

1. The Silent Type // 100

2. The Monopolizer // 101

3. The Intimidator // 102

4. The Nice Guy // 102

5. The Unhappy Camper // 103

Chapter 7: Dealing with Conflict // 107

Determining When to Intervene // 107

Conflict Arises // 108

Preventing Negative Conflict // 109

When Conflict is Present // 110

Managing Conflict // 113

The Roots of Conflict // 117

Chapter 8: Get Innovative // 121

Environments that Spark Creative Thinking // 122

Starting Out Right // 123

Tools for Tapping Creativity // 123

Chapter 9: Check Your Meeting Leadership Style // 135

Check Your Task/Process Style // 137

Chapter 10: The Essential Skill // 141

Questioning ¿ A Critical Skill // 141

Chapter 11: Common ¿How Do You ¿?¿ Questions // 147

How Do You Ensure Full Participation? // 147

How Do You Deal with Senior People in Meetings? // 156

How Do You Use a Timed Agenda? // 159

How Can You Best Facilitate a Meeting When You Are the

Team Leader or a Team Member? // 161

How Do You Develop Meeting Facilitation Skills? // 165

How Do You Ensure a ¿That Was a Great Meeting¿

Response? // 168

And So ¿ // 185

Worksheets // 187

Index // 245