6. Engage Participants Johnny would continue flow of conversation with his guests by asking follow-up questions or summarize what they said.

Ask additional questions to draw out important information with your meeting participants. Say following:

Tell me more about… That’s an interesting viewpoint, please explain further… If I understand what you are saying…

If there are participants that are quiet, make it safe for them to give feedback or suggestions. Say following:

“Mike, we would really like to hear your ideas on… “Jane, you look like you really want to add something important to discussion, please tell us.”

Once they make their comments say, “Thanks for your valuable comments. I look forward to you contributing more insights in future.”

7. Make Meeting Participants Stars Johnny Carson had a way of letting his guests, whether they were infamous or famous, be celebrities on Tonight Show. He allowed them to tell their jokes and witty stories, as well as complimented them, so that stars were and ultimately show was successful.

You can do same for your staff in meetings. You could dominate meeting and develop all ideas yourself. You wouldn’t accomplish much because meeting participants would have no sense of ownership and would be slow to initiate your ideas. Or you can encourage participants to contribute ideas so that they take ownership of ideas and take responsibility for implementing their ideas. Also, acknowledge and reward these “solution creators” in front of group.

Let them shine!

8. End Meeting Right Way While excusing his guests, Johnny would sincerely thank them for coming on show and compliment them on their contributions. The guests left with a good feeling and always wanted to come back again and again.

Make sure you thank meeting participants for their time and contributions. Let them know how they made a difference in meeting. If there were solutions created in meeting, communicate what is clear course of action to accomplishing those solutions. Express your confidence that you know that these solutions will be achieved.

9. Follow-up, Follow-up, Follow-up Johnny Carson would talk about how great a show was because of a guest. This was another way to make guests on his show feel special.

Send an e-mail to all relevant employees, whether they were in meeting or not, explaining what was covered in meeting, what was decided on in meeting, and what course of action we are taking.

Also again, acknowledge key people in meeting for their contributions.

Follow these nine techniques used by master of late night and your meetings will be outstanding.

Step #4 – Perform Periodic Employee Evaluations

Employee evaluations or performance reviews tend to be more important to employee than they are to employer. Employees want to know how they are doing and when they’ll be eligible for a pay increase. There are so many reasons why it’s important to complete employee reviews, including legal ones. An employee review is one of few things you have, in writing and signed by employee and employer, that clearly describes an employee’s performance on job. Should you ever need to let employee go or take other action, you’ll have this documentation to back up your decision.

Step #5 – Keep a Safe Work Environment

Sure you need to keep your fire exits clearly marked and free of clutter. But there are Federal and state laws with which you must comply covering everything from storage of hazardous chemicals to posting of bulletins in common areas where employees congregate. Comply with these regulations before you end up on losing side of a lawsuit.

Properly implementing these five steps seems like a lot of work especially when you have little spare time. One way you can manage your employees and still have time to do all your other tasks is to purchase software that has been designed to help manage employees. Spending time and money to better manage your employees now will keep you from spending even more time and money later on, after you’ve been hit with an employee-related lawsuit!