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Why We Need to Take Meetings Up A Notch

Excerpt from Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings
(Rowntree Press, 2021)

We’ve all been in meetings that felt like a total waste of time. Endless, back-to-back meetings that clutter up the calendar and leave the real work to pile up.
You know how they go.

Meetings called to discuss issues that would be better handled by email.

People in love with the sound of their own voices, drone on about something that should have taken a few minutes.

Ramblers disappear down rabbit holes over obscure, inconsequential issues.

Participants talk over each other while others check their electronic devices under the table.

Boring presentations that provide no opportunity to ask questions or share views.

Meetings run over time with unaddressed chunks of the agenda leading to even more meetings.

You end the meeting more confused than when it started, frustrated that it was all talk and no action, just like so many before it.

When you’re the Conversation Leader, these kinds of problems fall on your shoulders.

How do you handle things when people get unruly? Or is it you who talks endlessly, leaving no space for back-and-forth dialogue in your meeting?

The latest research indicates that people’s experience of meetings is not great. It’s estimated that unproductive meetings waste more than $37B a year, and executives view more than 67 percent of meetings as failures (Dempsey, 2019). Beyond sitting in meeting rooms, there’s all the preparation time beforehand; even a simple status update meeting can require up to four hours of groundwork.

The research also shows that what happens in the meeting isn’t inspiring. Some 92 percent of workers admit they multitask in meetings – and it’s even easier to do when meeting virtually.

Perhaps a recent promotion requires you to now lead the discussion, but you feel like you missed the memo on how to leave people excited to do the work and meet again, rather than just relieved the meeting is over and done with. Or maybe you’re a seasoned team leader working virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and you need to find better ways to keep your people connected and engaged.

In an increasingly complex and ever-changing world, it’s clear we have some big problems to solve. The scope of challenges most organizations face is beyond the ability of any single individual to figure out. Add a global pandemic that has turned the way we work and live upside down, and you have a whole new level of complication.

Why do we need to do better?

We have a laundry list of big problems to deal with – and quickly. The term “wicked problem” was coined to describe “a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, where there is no single solution to the problem”. (Wikipedia, 2021). From issues like climate change, systemic racism, social injustice, the emergence of new technologies, and rising incidence of mental health, these are challenges that impact us as individuals, communities, businesses, public agencies, and governments. And, of course, the pandemic.

The scale of change is mind-boggling and can be paralyzing.

At the end of the day, solving big problems starts with a conversation – with people talking to and listening to one another. It begins with the ability to share perspectives, ask questions, and trust one another enough to get creative, courageous and committed to finding a solution – together.
The quality of your relationships is a huge determinant of the quality of work you can do together. Certain ingredients will make your next conversation truly count and not just fade into irrelevance as with so many meetings before. Getting clear, purposeful, and aligned within yourself is a critical first step in influencing and inspiring others.

This is where you, as a Conversation Leader, have a significant role to play.

Take Action

Take an inventory of your current abilities when it comes to leading meetings or important conversations. Where do you know you’ve got some strengths and confidence? What are some of your potential blind spots? If you aren’t sure, ask a few of your colleagues to get their input.

Harvest your own wisdom of your own experience in meetings. Think back to some of the meetings you’ve attended. What were some of the choices the Conversation Leader made that made a particular discussion really impactful, where you felt you and your fellow attendees had great rapport, creativity and clarity? Think of some of the less-than-stellar meetings you’ve been in. What were some of the discussion choices made that made that particular meeting feel ineffective or like a waste of time. In preparing to lead your next discussion, review this list.

Resources

Carolyn Ellis, Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings, (Rowntree Press, 2021).

Author Information: This is an excerpt from Lead Conversations that Count: How Busy Managers Run Great Meetings by Carolyn Ellis (Rowntree Press, 2021). For more information on the book, please visit www.LeadConversationsThatCount.com. This article may be shared provided the author information is included.