People Using Meetings to Show Off


As if at a "dog and pony show," team members come in and report how great things are going within their area of responsibility. Each person puts on his little show. There is little or no discussion. Members usually listen politely and are respectful (though I have seen examples where people just show up for "their" spot on the agenda and then leave). While one function of teams is to keep people informed, frequent reliance on dog and pony show meetings will result in very little gain for the organization. The team concept is at its best when the team members are expected to produce something that requires interaction and interdependency. In addition, these polite shows tend to suggest that there are no problems, there is no need for change, and conflict is unlikely . This does not match the reality of most organizations today.

Meetings Being Used to Justify the Organization's Claim of Having a Team Concept

Football teams have locker-room meetings, but the real work of the team is done on the field. A very small fraction of your team's time together is meeting time. If you are calling a work group a team just because it meets together every Monday morning, you are not likely to see much benefit. If the members of your team are located far apart, you had better find other ways they can connect on a regular basis beside meetings. Meetings show some commitment because people must dedicate the time to get together to work on things in addition to their time spent in other productive activities, but it is only one communication tool among many.




Tools for Team Leadership. Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence
Tools for Team Leadership: Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence
ISBN: 0891063862
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 137

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