|
A fun moment in my brief career as a commercial painter
Hi Barb,
Just before Christmas a few years ago, I was sitting at my desk here in the basement, drafting a business plan for Bickford Collaboration. The window to my right framed a lovely scene of snow-globe snow, lazily drifting toward the ground.
Next to the window, a contractor was stirring up a quart of paint after having patched the wall. He was a gangly and likeable "aw-shucks" kind of guy,
"I don't really like to paint," he remarked. "I would rather build things."
"I love to paint," I replied.
"I especially don't like to paint edges," he said, gesturing toward the window frame.
"I love painting edges!" I volleyed, grinning at him.
"I'll hire you!" he shot back.
And a few weeks later, he did.
Being a contract painter delayed me from launching this business for about a year, until the day I got vertigo and had to stop leaning out into space while holding onto ladders. LOL.
It also taught me that detours in life can teach us valuable lessons. For one, I learned that paintbrushes are not very tasty.
Ok, seriously...As a painter, I learned lessons about preparing for meetings. You can read about them here.
I distilled those lessons into this meeting planning sheet. It might help you have shorter, more purposeful meetings.
And now, as we wrap up 2024, I wish you a joy-filled, healthy, memorable and restful holiday season!
Warmly,
Barb Bickford
Caring for Self and Others:
A Conversation with Kathleen Paris
-- Online, Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 2 PM ET / 1 PM CT / 11 AM PT
Kathleen Paris, an accomplished facilitator and dear friend, recently finished a lovely book: Gentle Comforts: For Women Grieving the Loss of a Beloved Life Companion. Learn more about Kathleen and her book.
We will meet on Tuesday, January 7th for a complimentary conversation with Kathleen about self-care during times of transition and grief. Sign up here to get the link. We'd love to have you join us!
Transitions and New Beginnings retreats
-- in person, one of two weekends, either in February or in April, 2025
If you are going through a transition in your life, you may feel disoriented and alone. But you don't have to go it alone. Come join a retreat with people who are also navigating transitions. During a weekend away, we will explore what happened, how it's showing up in your life, and consider what might be coming next, using conversations, art and gentle movement. Read more about these retreats.
Register for the February 5-7, 2025 retreat
Register for the April 4-6, 2025 retreat
Free QiGong class
-- online, Monday December 30, 9 AM Central time, 7 AM Pacific
Sandy Salvo is offering a free session of QiGong to anyone who would like to try out the gentle movements that she leads at the Transitions retreats. Here is the full link -- just copy it into your calendar and join us that day!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87188317798?pwd=aW5nVis5R24xb1daRGVHL0FNNEozUT09#success
Learn more about Sandy's QiGong classes
Related blog posts
-- Brush up on your meeting preparation
-- How can leaders get just a little more rest?
-- Embracing life transitions
Our current workshops and courses
Plan your meetings in writing
It's one thing to think for a few minutes before a meeting, jot down a few ideas and call that an agenda. Most of us do it, even I do sometimes, and it's better than nothing.
It's another thing to really plan the meeting, by writing down the details.
When you plan in writing, you can deliberately decide
- WHAT you will do and not do,
- WHAT attendees need to do to prepare,
- HOW to encourage everyone to engage in your meeting, and
- WHO actually should attend or not.
From your written plan, you can pull out the parts that the participants need to know. That is your agenda.
A while ago, I created a form for preparing for my own meetings, one that takes just a few minutes to fill out. Filling it out always saves time in the meeting itself, for both me and the participants.
Here's the link to the form It's blank on one side so you can copy and use it multiple times, and it includes instructions on the other side.
This worksheet works for me, but I'm wondering, does it work for YOU? Tryi it out, and let me know. I'm open to suggestions for improving it.
Want even more tips? Access Ten Tips to Foster Online Engagement.
If you were forwarded this newsletter email, you may subscribe here.
You can also sign up for topics that you want to hear more about.
Photo Credit: Aralee Derflinger
| 
