Recently, one of my clever clients with impressive technical skills, was complaining about the endless supply of useless meetings that make up his day. To him, they feel like a complete waste of time. But are they?
Maybe.
But, not if it’s an opportunity to build trust through spending time together.
Or a chance to witness the underlying emotions and relational dynamics that can help or hinder a project. That kind of information, if you can use what you see, makes you one savvy leader.
So, next time you’re in a meeting and thinking you’d rather be anywhere but here, an option is to get present instead.
Are people getting to know each other and building trust? And what are you noticing? Things like who speaks first, who takes control, who tries to take control and fails, who people defer to and who they ignore, where people choose to sit. All the non-verbal expressions and patterns of relating.
Assuming the players are at the table, you’ll learn who’s who in the zoo very quickly. Even who’s missing and the impact that has is revealing.
Plus, it makes for a much more enjoyable day.
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Meetings are essential to both build trust in teams, track progress in projects (internally) and keep customers informed so they can plan their activities.
We have seen many articles and books written on effective meetings which, in essence, means that meetings need to have a purpose, appropriate attendees with the authority to make decisions and a time set that is rigorously adhered to.
One of the prime reasons projects fail is a lack of communication which we address in our Project Initiation Workshop as the project commencement. We also hold daily standups, literally 5-10 minutes, to share progress and address any blockers.
Rob, as always, a font of wisdom. Sounds like you’ve got it down with your Project Initiation Workshops and daily standups.
Yes, you have captured a true insight as to how leaders can learn so much from the inter-actions in meetings. Fundamentally they still need to be certain there is an agenda, and anticipated decisions and outcomes as a result of the meeting as well.
Hi Dale, Totally agree. You’ve got to get the fundamentals right.