Meetings are often perceived to be a waste of valuable time. Yet it’s one of the strongest communication tools an organisation has to not only provide each team member with a clear direction of where the business is heading, but the role they all play in getting there, says Simone Krell

Have you recently been to a meeting where the boring monologue leaves you and your colleagues staring into space, nodding off, or shaking your head in disbelief as an argument goes round in circles, with no end in sight? Admit it. We have all witnessed meeting hell where you notice many a colleague’s eyes glazing over, giving in to fantasies about their next holiday, or making to-do lists of all the things that they need to do when they get back to their desk or home. You might have even noticed others tapping away emails or text messages on their Blackberry  / iPhone under the table. Of course, some organisations have caught on to such tricks, and responded by not allowing laptops or other electronical devices in meetings anymore – more commonly known as ‘topless meetings’1. But that doesn’t stop some resorting to the internet for ideas to help turn those boring meetings into something more fun.

In effective meetings information is shared, vital decisions are made and the future is mapped out.  Much like in the world of racing, a meeting should deliver the crucial information for navigation. That meeting provides a route map that ensures the driver and the racing team know where the car is heading and the role they all play in winning the race.  Without this map, even the fastest Ferrari can’t win the race. Yet, as the above scenario indicates, very few meetings are successful in creating such a map, and we waste a significant part of our working time in ineffective meetings.

The problem with meetings
So where does it all go wrong? Some of it boils down to lack of preparation and the way a meeting is conducted, and sometimes certain individuals prevent the meeting from staying on track. Top teams in particular, where the individuals are all accustomed to leading rather than cooperating can spoil things by pursuing their own agendas. This can be challenging at the best of times, and without the right intervention, ongoing discussions or deadlocks are unavoidable.

Another sticking point is having a meeting without a defined leader. When no one has a route map in mind it is easy to lose direction and end up in the wrong place altogether. Apart from not achieving the desired results, those meetings can have serious repercussions – where bad decisions can have far more detrimental effects than making no decisions at all.

Apart from the enormous cost and time implications, the impact of ineffective meetings on staff shouldn’t be underestimated. Having their time wasted can lead to feelings of frustration and demotivation, and this could result in them wanting to become less involved and avoiding further meetings. Recent psychological research2 reveals that perceived meeting effectiveness has a direct relationship with job attitudes and well-being, including job satisfaction.  As a result, job satisfaction and commitment to the organisation suffers when people attend meetings that they feel are a complete waste of time. This then begs the question, why do we have meetings if the effects can be so detrimental?

Getting the best out of meetings
Meetings are actually one of the strongest communication tools an organisation has in its toolkit.  As described by business author James Surowiecki in The Wisdom of the Crowds3 a group of individuals are likely to make better decisions than individuals.  The diversity of participants’ shared thoughts is a key factor in the success of small groups. A clear agenda and a strong leader who ensures that everyone’s voice is heard are vital. Without this the more confident and talkative team members can hijack the meeting and the decisions made are unlikely to include the thoughts and voices of the quieter individuals, thus reducing the diversity and success of the meeting. So some intervention and regulation is crucial to getting the best out of meetings. That way, you’re more likely to lift spirits and get the buy-in of your team by involving all the participants, not just the ones who talk the loudest.

So, what’s the best way of getting a meeting off to a winning start? Firstly, it is important to be clear about the purpose of the meeting and the desired outcome.  A strong leader, taking the role of chair, who can decide which team members attend the meeting, as well as the right meeting format to achieve the desired goal, is a must.

The following four aspects are also crucial for the leader to achieve a successful outcome:

• Friendship: building rapport and manage how people deal with each other;
• Focus: having clarity of what achievement is wanted from the process;
• Facilitation: ensuring the right process is in place (e.g. decision making process) and the appropriate style for the meeting;
• Feedback: providing feedback on ideas and actions.

Having a relevant agenda prevents a meeting from being overloaded and should include realistic timings for the various issues that need to be covered.  Expectations – such as what’s on the agenda – should be managed at the beginning of the meeting. It’s also vital to have breaks especially during long meetings to keep minds fresh and focused. The outcome of the meeting must also be recorded. It’s crucial to ensure that the recorded outcomes are implemented. A table capturing the decisions, accountabilities and timelines is a better approach than taking detailed notes.

Having the right mix of personalities in a meeting can make all the difference. According to management theorist Dr Meredith Belbin’s4 team role theory, the mix of roles has an impact on how successful a team meeting is. Typically, top teams consist of strong personalities, whose characteristics have got them to where they are. For this very reason having high calibre, strong personalities working together can be challenging. As Belbin’s team role theory highlights – many leaders are ‘shapers’ – goal directed and task oriented leaders who often challenge their environment and shape others into achieving the aim (see Belbin’s team role categories in box below). If there are too many members with the same strengths, the meeting can become dysfunctional. Imagine having 3 ‘shapers’ who are competing rather than cooperating, creating conflict. So it’s vital to have the right mix of people in a meeting. For example, without ‘implementers’, those great ideas from the ‘plants’ might not be translated into action.

It’s often the reason why meetings of top, high-level teams, who are mostly ‘shapers’ run into difficulties, which could be resolved with the help of an outside facilitator brought in to break the deadlock. The facilitator can help the team players assume roles and responsibilities that will help them work together in a more cooperative way and develop solutions to achieve that all-important road map.

Facilitation
ER Consultants offer experienced facilitation based on the practical experience we have gained over many years. Using the insight we have gained working with clients, we will find the right balance of facilitation with you and agree the role of the facilitator, which includes:

• Keeping the leader and the team focused on its purpose and goals;
• Explaining to and helping the team apply techniques for analysis, and developing solutions;
• Challenging assumptions and muddled thinking;
• Maintaining a broader perspective of the issue, and act as a bridge between the   group and the situation;
• Managing the process;
• Doing all of the above without taking away the responsibility of the leader and the other team members.

Going back to the racing car scenario, everyone in the team – not just the driver – needs to know exactly which direction the car is heading and what is expected from each team member. It’s the same for an organisation. Understanding which direction the organisation is heading in and what role everyone contributes in getting there are the two vital pieces of information every team member should take away from an effective meeting. Only then are you in with a good chance of winning the race.


Case Study
ER Consultants has recently worked with a global business supporting them to formulate a new strategy and its organisational consequences.  Eighteen months of strategy meetings had got them nowhere. But bringing in a facilitator from ER
Consultants broke that deadlock. This was achieved through a three-pronged approach. By listening to their customers, the facilitator was able to give direct feedback from the external perspective. Secondly, an independent observation of what and how they delivered their work in each country provided insight into the strengths and weaknesses of how they operated as a collective. Thirdly, we employed a team working preference tool to help the senior leaders understand the team behaviours better, and how they could be improved. By providing the client with these three insights, the facilitator was able to take the senior management team through a problem solving process over a short series of workshops that shifted their thinking from the hypothetical to the practical. Consequently, a strategy was formulated and the organisation was changed, enabling the senior management team to move forward and perform stronger together.

The Right Mix
A successful team meeting requires a mix of personalities to assume different roles. According to management theorist Dr Meredith Belbin, people tend to assume particular roles when working in teams, as outlined below:

•    Plant: generates ideas and solves problems.
•    Resource Investigator: explores opportunities through networking.
•    Coordinator: chairperson that sees the bigger picture and delegates well.
•    Shaper: achieves goals, focuses on tasks and challenges.
•    Monitor Evaluator: observes objectively and judges.
•    Teamworker: seeks harmony, cooperates and averts friction.
•    Implementer: translates ideas into action.
•    Completer Finisher: searches for errors and ensures quality.
•    Specialist: provides knowledge.

For more information, contact: Simone.Krell@erconsultants.co.uk


References:
1 Meetings going ‘topless’, Jessica Guynn, 31 March 2008, Los Angeles Times
2 Are Meeting Time Demands Related to Employee Well-Being? Rogelberg et al., 2006, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 91(1)
3 The Wisdom of the Crowds. Why the many are smarter than the few, James Surowiecki, 2005, Abacus
4 The Belbin Guide to Suceeding at Work, Meredith Belbin, 2008, Butterworth-Heinemann


© er consultants Topics Issue 3, 200