Meetings, Bloody Meetings

If you are going to have a team concept in your organization, there will be meetings. In addition to sending a shiver down the spine of many people, meetings are the single most expensive social technology used in organizations. Yet they provide a very important opportunity for the team concept to succeed ”and they represent a crucial communication tool that you as a leader must know how to use effectively. However, we have all been frustrated in a meeting at one time or another. Following are some of the more common problems and frustrations associated with meetings.

EXERCISE 17

Assessing Your Communication Skills

You can complete this exercise alone or with a fellow team leader.

Directions:

1. First, find a private space and remove all distractions ( turn off cell phones, let the answering machine pick up any messages, place a do-not-disturb sign on the door, etc.).

2. You will be reflecting on a series of questions. If by yourself, you might want to write down your answers in a journal. If you are doing the exercise with a fellow team leader, each of you should be given the opportunity to answer each question, but make sure the other party provides descriptive feedback so that you hear your answer reflected out loud. Alternate who goes first for each question.

3. For all questions listed below, reflect on a recent experience where you attempted to communicate with a team (or an individual team member). Focus on what you did and could have done, not on what others should have done

   • What things did you do that helped people understand what you were trying to say?

   • How might you have been more successful in your efforts to share the information?

   • Did you listen to people's responses as you shared the information? What did you do well as a listener?

   • Did you respond to what team members said? When you responded (i.e., gave feedback), did you start off descriptively, or did you react in a judging fashion by saying whether you agreed or disagreed with their comments?

   • If you had to go through the same experience again, what would you do differently?

Now that you have reflected on some lessons learned from that past experience, look for another opportunity to communicate with a team in the near future. Try to apply these lessons to this upcoming experience.

 

Meetings Turning into Complaint Sessions

Members just get together and point out everything they don't like. They complain about management. They complain about the equipment. They complain about each other. While it is important for members to be aware of the problems related to the successful use of the team concept, it is crucial that they take responsibility for using their knowledge and skills to address the problems within their control. Complaint sessions must be turned into problem-solving sessions.

Meetings Turning into Demand Sessions

Members go beyond complaining by figuring out what they want but then use the meeting to demand that management take care of it. Meetings become an alternative to negotiation, where teams try to get what they can through other means. While management support is crucial, teams will not become empowered unless they work on issues and problems within their own control. It must be made clear to teams that meeting time is to be spent on identifying what the team can do to make things better in collaboration with the rest of the organization.

Members Failing to Participate

If some resistant members attend meetings but sit there without saying anything, you cannot gain the collective wisdom of the team. If some members rebel even further by reading the newspaper or falling asleep, management will lose faith in the team concept. Even the teammates of the resistant members will become resentful or cynical . It must be made clear that the responsibilities of team members include participation. It may help to make attendance mandatory, though as they say, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." You need everyone there and you need leadership capable of encouraging involvement.

Members Becoming Frustrated by a Lack of Follow-Through

Even when members participate and generate solutions to the team's problems, if talk does not result in action, members will declare the meetings useless. Before you launch your team concept, make sure it is clear that teams must work on problems within their control and/or influence and that there is a structure in place to identify and allocate resources to assist them. Trust in the team concept is developed through actions, not words.

Members Sharing Whatever Pops into Their Head

If the team meeting is not organized and focused, frustration is the likely result. You want to encourage free speech and open communications, but that doesn't mean you want to make meetings a free-for-all. An agenda must be established, and someone must be charged with the responsibility to enforce rules so that the agenda is followed. Topic jumping allows for some venting of feelings but typically does not produce the desired results.

A Couple of Members Dominating

Some people talk more than others. Some people don't want to fight for airtime. You don't truly have a functioning team if most of the discussion is generated from just a few of the members. You need the perspectives of all, or nearly all, members to gain the full wisdom of the team, as well as the team's full commitment. Don't assume that just because you have a group of smart people in a room you will get good results ”you still need some rules to make the most of the meeting opportunity. The leaders can suggest techniques such as silent brainstorming and round- robin participation to ensure that all members have an opportunity to gather their thoughts and contribute to the discussion.

Meetings Lasting Too Long

The human brain (and seat) can only take so much. Make sure that the agenda is focused and the purpose for discussing each item is clear. Sometimes the information being provided is not subject to debate. Sometimes the team being asked to prioritize problems or options is not being asked to decide what actions will actually be taken. It may not be easy to schedule team meetings and still carry on production. But it doesn't help to have one long meeting every month or so if the amount of information is going to be overwhelming. You may need to provide short "huddles" for the team in addition to formal meetings. If the meeting needs to last more than an hour , it should closely follow the rules of systematic problem solving (see chapter 6).

Too Many Interruptions Occurring

While some interruptions can't be helped, if certain members are constantly being called in and out of the meeting to converse with others outside the team, you can't blame team members for feeling that the meeting must not be very important and that they aren't very special. At a minimum cell phones and pagers should be set on vibration mode and members instructed not to take the call unless it is an emergency. Instructions should be given to others that the meeting is not to be disturbed. If a member anticipates he may need to excuse himself at some point, he should be expected to let the group know at the beginning of the meeting. Meetings are an expensive investment in terms of labor costs. Interruptions siphon off this investment.