MEETINGS

Sep

2022

Four C’s to Effective Communication

Not long ago someone recommended reading the book Make Virtual Meetings Matter by Paul Axtell. This short book has a lot of very practical tips about leading meetings. He provides many tips on leading engaging and productive meetings. One section highlights a framework for effective communication which can help us in every aspect of leadership.

Clarity

Have you ever sat in a meeting where the leader rambles on and you are not sure where they are going? Have you been that leader? I find this happens when I do not know what I want to accomplish before we start. As the leader of the meeting my job is to come prepared with clear objectives I want to cover.

When we fail to prepare we are unclear and likely to not honor the time of those present. Clarity not only helps you lead better, but gives participants purpose and more internal motivation to engage in the meeting. As the meeting leader continually check to see if everyone has clarity on what you are trying to accomplish.

Candor

Some meetings are great at this while others are not. If we lead with candor, then we will set a tone where others feel comfortable to speak openly. We’ve all been in the meeting where there is a silence beyond the “thinking silence” and finally someone says: “can you repeat the question?” This is a gentle form of being candid.

Candor creates an environment where healthy debate occurs and people discuss differing ideas freely without fear of repercussion. When leaders create an environment that balances candor and care problems are solved quicker. Axtell defines candor this way:

“Being authentic – saying what you mean and meaning what you say.”

Commitment

Once everyone has clarity and freedom to be candid, an environment conducive to commitment exists. A meeting without action steps is often not a productive meeting. To continue moving toward accomplishing the vision people must commit to action.

I have been in meetings that dump information, but no actionable steps are set. I have also been in meetings where an action step was mentioned, but no one was assigned responsibility nor was a deadline provided. As the leader your job is to bring individuals to a point of committing to actionable items to move the initiative forward. We all have a procrastination monster lurking and deadlines help tame that monster. This leads to the last piece of the communication puzzle.

Completion

Whether in a meeting or following up on an action step, the communication loop will not close without completion. I was leading a meeting recently and I proposed an idea. The group discussed the idea and my job was to make sure all people had shared and then come to a conclusion. Once I was confident everyone shared what they needed I summarized possible action steps which were different than I originally anticipated. No action for now was the best step because we needed clarity on another topic before moving forward.

This conversation was not complete until a decision for action, continued thought, or further discussion later was made. At that point we knew we could move on.

Now that I’ve covered these four phases of communication, where do you get stuck? How can you improve in that area when you communicate one on one or lead a meeting? Do you or your team need help in meeting facilitation skills? Contact me to discuss our Maxwell Leadership Leading Productive Meetings workshop. In the meantime lead well!

Feb

2017

Death By Meeting and How to Avoid It

I remember when I first entered the workplace and I had a weekly staff meeting; it was not the highlight of my week. We covered important information and it was a good time of connecting with the other staff members since we were distributed all over the city. As an action oriented 23 year old, I was not always the most engaged. Little did I know I would encounter other meeting experiences in various industries over my working career.

Recently I was with an organization performing team building and through the course of the activity one of the major issues that arose was the challenge of communication. In some organizations communication is informal and sporadic which can lead to problems, but for organizations that are more centralized meetings are used. As I thought about that concept a book I had heard about came to mind: Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable…About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni so I went to my local library and borrowed it. If this is an area of struggle for your team or organization I recommend taking the time to read this book, but I will give you a broad overview in this post.

Four Meeting Types

In this book he goes into detail about four different types of meeting. I want to take a minute to tell you about those types of meeting and for more detail you will have to borrow or buy the book.

The shortest of all the meetings (5 -10 minutes) is the “daily check-in” – the purpose is to share what is going on that day: activities, schedules, etc.
The meeting most of us are familiar with a more intentional plan is the “weekly tactical” (45 – 90 minutes) – this is where everyone quickly highlights the upcoming weeks activities and the group discusses any immediate non-strategic challenges that need to be addressed.
The “monthly strategic” meeting is usually much more animated. This 2 – 4 hour meeting is where critical issues that will impact long-term success are discussed and analyzed.
The “quarterly off-site review” (1 – 2 days) is where the big picture of the organization is analyzed such as organizational strategy, competition, personnel decisions, developing the team, etc.

Questions to Ask

This only gave you a broad overview of Lencioni’s book. You may lead a small business, a small team, a sports team or a multi-national organization. Whatever the organization, communication must occur and meetings are often the vehicle for that communication. Ask yourself some of the following questions if you seek to implement this method for your communication:

What don’t I/we do?
What do we need to do better?
When and how will we start?

Make Sure This is Clear

One final thought for any meeting, which is probably common sense . . . make sure you have a clear agenda in mind. When setting that agenda clarify your objectives so that when the meeting is over you and those involved will know whether or not you accomplished the purpose.

As we improve our communication through more effective meetings we will be able to be more effective and efficient in accomplishing our organizational purpose. As I have heard said, don’t just work hard, but work smart. Keep communicating and meeting to move your vision forward. Good luck!