When We Gather, It Has to Matter
How often do you complain about unproductive meetings? According to research by Harvard Business Review, a lot. Well over 50% of those surveyed said meetings are too frequent, poorly timed and badly run. And, while well-intended, even 71% of senior managers said the meetings are unproductive while 62% said the meetings miss opportunities to bring people together.
While often ineffective, these meetings did bring people together in the same room. However, the pandemic ushered in a new era of working from home and the question of how do we meet? Digital connection became the norm where meetings happened online with audio and visual connections. It's worked so well that people are now tired of it. Mental health experts are writing about the fatigue of meeting virtually. These meetings and their frequency are literally taxing the brain.
If meeting is taxing the brain and leading to fatigue, do we stop? There has always been value in bringing people together. It can bring a sense of belonging and provide a space for values to be shared. Bringing people together is necessary, desired even. It's just that when we gather, it has to matter.
How can you make sure your meetings matter? Change the nature of the conversation.
- Invitation replaces mandate, policy and alignment
- Possibility replaces problem solving
- Ownership and Cause replace explanation, blame and denial
- Dissent and Refusal replace resignation and lip service
- Commitment replaces hedge and barter
- Gifts replace deficiencies
In the absence of these, it is all just talk, no matter how urgent the cause, how important the plan, how elegant the answer. These are the conversations through which the meeting, the community, is transformed.
Interested in learning more? Join me for the new Leader as Convener program based on Peter Block's book, Community: The Structure of Belonging. Peter will kick off the leadership series on June 14 at noon ET. In a world of high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability, leaders need to develop new ways of seeing, doing and being. The old ways of leading and meeting never really did work. It's time to try something different. I hope to see you there.
Learn more at https://designedlearning.com/leader-as-convener/
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