How to have an effective meeting
Meeting Handy Guide 2m
Resources
A handy Guide to meetings (28.36 KB)
"We have a service meeting every week to talk about customers and how we can better meet their needs, but invariably, half the team don't say a word. Unless that is, they have something to grumble about. I'm thinking of canning the meetings."
Malcolm was asking for help, so I agreed to attend the next team meeting and within 10 minutes I knew why nobody would speak up.
It was because Malcolm didn't give them the space to speak up. When I suggested this to Malcolm he was frustrated, but allowed me to explain.
Malcolm welcomed the team, introduced me with an upbeat energy, then things started to go awry. He spoke for about 10 minutes about an idea he had for responding to complaints. Then he asked if anybody had any ideas. Of course nobody said a word.
As an outside observer I could see half the team had checked out 10 minutes before he asked if they had any ideas. They were thinking about what they'd have for lunch!
I suggested to Malcolm that he welcome people, reach agreement on the theme for the meeting and then ask the person on his left for a 60 second report on their week. Then the next person, the next, and so on around the room, until everyone had spoken.
Then he could go around the room and asks everyone if they have any issues or ideas they'd like to share. I explained there must be an expectation that everyone speaks up in turn and to do that the leader must remain silent.
A useful mantra for a leader wishing to encourage greater participation in meetings is:
"My opinion is concealed"
To wrap up the meeting, Malcolm could go around the room and ask people to share, in just a few words what they were focused on until the next meeting. That becomes most of what their report will be about next meeting.