June 02, 2008
Better-Leadership.com
This Month's Tip: The Painful Meeting
SITUATION
You are in a meeting in which the conversation is ineffective, unfocused, and dragging on and on. (You may or may not be the one in charge).
TRY THIS
Leaders take initiative. This is a great opportunity to show some.
Use re-directing statements and conclusive observations such as:
It sounds like we have reached a conclusion.
We just heard several ideas for solving this. Can we write those on the white board?
I have heard the same thing 3 times. Let's acknowledge that and move on.
We are onto a tangent from the objective of this meeting. Let's capture that as a "parking lot" issue.
Variation: train your staff to use the same methods and award “points” for implementing redirecting statements (Like Drew Carey points, they may mean nothing … but people like the competition).
Short Story (A brief story from a short person)
The Terror of the Leader: Overcoming Self-Doubt by Katie K. SnappWhen I first began facilitating workshops and meetings 20 years ago, I was anxious, but determined to overcome the steep learning curve. My first nightmare occurred after I had been working steadily for several months, then took a little time off. What if I regressed and could not come back to where I left off?
My nightmare was classic (although I was not naked). I was suddenly standing in front of a group of 25 leaders, all perched intently on their chairs, gaping at me to launch the session into productivity. I had no idea who they were, no evidence of any agenda or workbook for guidance, and not an inkling of the objective of our gathering. To top it off, I looked to my side and caught a glimpse of my co-consultant standing next to me. It was my little sister, whose only job at that time had been a cocktail waitress in a tex-mex restaurant in Kansas City. She too looked at me expectantly.
To wiggle out of the dilemma, a brilliant idea came to me. Why not turn the attention to the group for action? So, I began the session with a brainstorm discussion entitled “What do you think we are here for?” It was a win-win. The group created what they thought would be a worthwhile agenda. Since then, I have never been nervous in leading a meeting or workshop.
Leadership is not about having all the answers. Leadership is about knowing how to extract the answers.
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