Meetings Are An Opportunity To Lead

A while ago a friend invited me to a meeting to give feedback on the interaction between two warring factions of one of his teams. Out in the field, two groups created camps and were launching grenades at each other from a distance. In the conference room it was even worse with verbal jabs, eye rolling, snarky statements and side conversations wrecked staff meetings. The meeting I attended was an effort to bridge the gap and bring the two sides together with the hope of creating a cohesive, productive team. There were three levels of leadership present and plenty of people from both sides of the battle line. What happened was unexpected. At the table, the groups reconfigured right before everyone’s eyes. The new line split labor and management with labor complaining about their managers and managers complaining about labor.  

I sat in that meeting blown away, working hard to keep my cool, and staying still to be a good role model but it was not easy. After two of the longest hours of my life, I had an opportunity to talk to the person who invited me, it was hard to hold my tongue until we could talk alone. (paraphrased for brevity)

Me, “That was a mess.”

Him, “What?”

Me, “What was the purpose of that meeting?”

Him, “To try to bridge the gap between our divided team.”

Me, “Do you feel like progress was made?”

Him, “No.”

Me, “Then what did everyone walk away with after that time together?”

Him, “Nothing I guess.”

Me, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have people walk away with something they could use to help reduce frustration?”

Him, “Yes.”

Me, “What do you think just happened?”

Him, “It was a bitching session.”

Me, “A hot mess”

Meetings are an opportunity for teams to discuss challenges, share ideas, problem solve, clarify their focus and bond. This time together can be powerful for the team if it’s structured right. Without good facilitation, this time can easily descend into some form of what I sat through that day. A good facilitator can control the amount of dumping, storytelling, ego, and agendas that conspire to derail a good meeting. Poor facilitation is also the reason people in general lament time devoted to meetings. Unequipped or unprepared leaders are usually the culprit. They usually come with no agenda, no purpose, and unorganized information. These meetings often ramble around and time is spent on the wrong things for far too long, leaving people to squeeze the most important topics into the last 15 minutes of the meeting. In the end, everyone walks out wondering what it was that they just did.

The company 3M has a strong idea sharing culture that has lasted over 50 years that I can research. In 1968, Spencer Silver, trying to develop a strong adhesive, failed. Instead, he created a very weak adhesive. In a meeting, he shared his failure and asked if anyone had any thoughts or ideas that could help. He then asked if anyone could think of a use for his weak adhesive. In 1973, after being promoted to manager, Spencer was still trying to find a use for this weak adhesive. It wasn’t until 1977 that Art Fry, needing something to hold a marker in his hymnal at church, did they find a use for that weak adhesive. He put some on a book mark and it held. Fry’s “perfect bookmark” could be easily removed without damaging the book, and placed on a new page without losing any of its strength. From there, 3M developed what we now know as the post-it note. Sharing ideas made it possible for 3M to develop over 80% of their products, and become one of the strongest companies over the last half century. A culture of sitting and sharing ideas, challenges, and bonding is responsible for their enduring strength. In short, they have good meetings.

A good meeting is an opportunity for a leader to access information he or she would not have otherwise known. Time used this way is good for both leaders and team members because leaders walk away equipped to make better decisions, and team members are now empowered to deal with whatever challenges they are facing. In order to do this a leader must listen. The people with the outward facing jobs are closer to problems than leaders and will have a valuable perspective for leaders who deal with other interdependent teams, politics, and organizational goals. This perspective is a valuable asset if you access it. What led to the meeting that I attended was a leader who didn’t lead or listen. The result was anarchy, a total lack of direction and respect for anything. Their camps didn’t even hold up when it came to talk about the problem. Making things worse, leaders were complaining about the people they led. This behavior does not work for anyone. It will lead to people using that valuable perspective, information you don’t know, against their leader. In the meeting, leaders were blindsided by information they hadn’t heard and it made them look incompetent.

What we did was institute regular meetings, formal and informal. Leaders systematically met with individuals, took notes, and used what they learned to guide team meetings. No, it was not easy, there was resistance from both sides because there was no trust baked into that team. What happened? A month later people were talking in meetings. It wasn’t perfect, in fact, they are still working on it but things are much better now. It was clear in that initial meeting that these people did not have a practice of meeting at all, and the result was poor meeting habits. Trust and respect for leaders ruined the culture and resentment led to bad behavior. Meeting, listening, talking, and teaching turned things around.

A good meeting is an opportunity for leadership to refocus the team on the vision and the team to share obstacles they need help moving. People come to work hoping to be led by someone who looks out for them. If leaders make their time in that leadership role about supporting their people, both in the field and in meetings, the results will be shocking. Meeting behavior is just a snapshot of what happens on a daily basis. Leaders who listen and prepare have the advantage, do that and you will SOAR!

William A. Brown

November 3, 2019

https://www.inc.com/articles/2003/01/25007.html

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/11/post-it-notes-were-invented-by-accident/

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