8 Ways to Escape From Meeting Hell

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  patti schuldenfrei

  07/31/08 | Report as spam

  RE: 8 Ways to Escape From Meeting Hell

  All that advice works great, and here are some other suggestions. A meeting is a complex blend of agenda items and people issues. You truly can???t have one without the other. It???s true that following these eight rules will make your meetings more efficient, but will it stop that guy in the picture from falling into a snooze? Answer for yourself.
  
  I???ve worked for many years helping companies understand the people part of a meeting. When a meeting really works, it becomes a unique moment when individual personalities, concerns, ???agendas,??? and behavior patterns come together in one place. Done right, meetings are an unequalled opportunity to spark breakthroughs in working relationships, communication, and culture that can grow into really meaningful change in how people work together every day. I???ve seen it happen over and over in working with companies of every shape and size. But it doesn't just happen on its own. It requires a whole different kind of meeting ???pre-work??? to create an environment where people feel safe to engage and participate on a level more meaningful than who-is-going-to-do-what-by-when.
  
  To be frank, it may still feel like hell for a while, as it was for one of my clients when his team was practicing a new model of expressing themselves openly and fully: First, he complained that their meetings had become chaotic and disorganized, with all these random ideas just bouncing off the walls. But once he learned to let go of the old ???command and control??? model and embrace the confusion of open communication, he came back to me and said, ???I get it! I know it looks sloppy and like we are wasting time, but I finally get what it means to let the group process work, and that there is a greater wisdom in the group mind.???
  
  So, here are some other ???rules??? for having better meetings:
  1. Practice telling the truth (which does not mean ???spilling your guts").
  2. Become ???pattern aware??? ??? observe if you are locked into either blaming or judging.
  3. Ask lots of open-ended questions, and then listen.
  4. Learn to tolerate moments of silence.
  5. Don???t be afraid to let the meeting get messy. That???s where the creativity resides.
  6. Remember that we all have a basic human need to be heard and acknowledged.
  7. Ask yourself: What are your intentions?
  8. Trust the wisdom of the group mind, and it will rarely let you down.
  -Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D., Creative Energy Options, Inc.