Chapter 6: Meetings: the Involvement Edge

Overview

Most people consider meetings time-wasting, energy-draining, and spirit-sapping. Many of us would rather go to the dentist than attend another meeting. Nearly everyone complains about meetings. Most of us seek to reduce the pain by avoiding them or eliminating them—thus dealing with the symptoms, not the problem.

Meetings are miniature involvement processes and as such have highly symbolic value above and beyond the purpose they are called for. It is in meetings where people directly experience involvement. It is here that they learn where the work is headed, decide if the work is worth doing, and find out if their voices count. Low-involvement meetings sap energy while high-involvement meetings produce energy.

Every time we meet represents an opportunity to create and strengthen involvement. In these encounters, people decide whether to remain on board or to walk away, whether to push hard for success or to let things drift, whether to give their all to the project or allow distractions and other commitments to dissipate their energies.

If we want meetings to be dynamic, energy producing, exciting experiences that get things done, then instead of eliminating them we need to focus on making them positive experiences. Instead of working toward reducing the time we spend with each other we need to focus on how to make the time we spend together productive.