The world we live and work in is about speed, competition, getting tasks done faster and doing more than we have ever done before to stay ahead. Our society suffers from a disease called BUSYNESS. What if, instead of doing more, we allowed ourselves to think more?
Meetings are the place where we come together to create, solve, discuss and clarify. Think of the last few meetings you have been in where you have become frustrated with interruptions, irritated by the dominance of a few loud voices and confused by the lack of clarity of the purpose of the meeting. Nancy Kline in her book Time to Think has found that good results have less to do with intelligence and more to do with the way people are treated. The belief is that there must be a better way to harness the collective power of our brains, than to spend time in long meetings where the results are often poor.
The starting point of any task, action, strategy, business model or sales pitch involves thinking. We have to learn to think for ourselves but more importantly create environments that facilitate thinking.
LISTEN – THINK – SPEAK
Herewith 5 points to consider when chairing a meeting:
- Offer a clear purpose to the meeting. Send out the agenda of the meeting noting the desired outcome. Start the meeting off by stating what you want to get out of the meeting – the goal – the outcome.
- Ensure that ALL participants come into the meeting as equals. Participants are to leave their positions, titles, status and ego’s at the door. Effective thinking happens best in an environment where people feel respected for who they are and know that they will be heard in a safe environment.
- Offer 100% attention to whoever is speaking. Give everyone a chance to speak and when they speak all participants must listen by focusing on the speaker for the allotted amount of time. You want everyone’s input and you want them to be able to have the time to think through what is on their minds.
- Show appreciation for good ideas and when there is criticism offer it in the form of information. The rule is a ratio of 5 to 1 of appreciation to criticism. This allows people to change and develop in an environment of encouragement and will pave the way for future creative discussions. A suggestion would be to start off the meeting with going around the table and getting a positive statement from all participants about their weekly tasks and activities. End the meeting in the same way – asking everyone to give a positive statement about how the meeting went.
- Make people feel as if they matter by choosing the venue of your meeting carefully. It is important to be organised, plan and be the first one there to welcome people to the meeting. This sets a respectful atmosphere where people will feel comfortable to share.
“We are what we think. All that we are arises from our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Buddha
“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so to.” Voltaire
Speak Your Mind