Are there simple ways that group meetings can work better?
Recently I’ve been doing a LOT of reading on groups, meetings, teams, dialogue in order to support our expansion into offering meeting facilitation as a service.
I’m a little uncomfortable with process-based ground rules at the minute so here are five principles of good group discussion (especially around problem-solving and decision making).
1. Keep conscious of process
For example, knowing whether you’re in a phase of idea production or idea evaluation can be key.
2. Agree explicit outcomes
Making sure everyone’s on the same page with both outcomes of the project and the meeting can stop unnecessary confusion. Outcomes for both will need to be constantly reviewed as time pressures and environmental constraints shift and change.
3. Verify data, inferences and conclusions
The need to verify data is prett clear. However, we too often (unconsciously) treat our inferences and conclusions as if they were data. Becoming conscious of what’s ‘the world’ and what’s our thoughts about the world is an important step. A lot of conflict comes from the clashing of inaccurate conclusions. The most significant change comes from welcoming people to verify our inferences, not to win or lose a point, but to allow the most appropriate decision to arise.
4. Actively seek and explore disagreement
To expect anything but the simplest of group decisions to be made without disagreement is naive, and leads us to think our team is dysfunctional when it is in fact just human. Having strategies to move towards and explore conflict is essential for teams to function without exploding.
5. Decide how to decide
And that means deciding in advance how to decide. It’s too much to expect to deal with the process of decision making when actually making a decision. Groups just don’t naturally know how to make decisions. If you’re not careful, the decision is either made by the boss, or the one who delivers the most certain-sounding summary.
Roger Schwarz talks about how the decision making method needs to provide the level of internal commitment required (commitment as opposed to compliance).
Consensus isn’t always required, but taking joint responsibility for this contributes to the real-life implementation of decisions made.
(This book by Sam Kaner is my go-to reference for group decision-making right now.)
***
As I’m in the data-gathering phase (hyuh – when am I not?!) I’m very interested to hear your experiences of difficult meetings that functioned well, or on meetings that turned to disaster. What helps meetings function? Or not… Let me know in the comments.
Like what you’ve read? Want to keep up-to-date with my articles without having to remember to visit this website? Sign up for email updates to have every post arrive straight in your inbox, or subscribe to the RSS feed. If you’re not sure what subscribing entails, click here for my plain English explanation.
Connect with me on Twitter, Facebook if we’re friends or LinkedIn if we’ve met professionally.
Links to books are often to Amazon for convenience and aren’t affiliate links (i.e. I don’t make any money from them). I’d much rather you ordered from an independent bookseller. If you’re in the UK, phone Kirsty the friendly bookseller at Westbourne Books on
+44 1202 768626 – nine times out of ten she’ll get the book in the post to you within 24 hours. Tell her I referred you – it’ll make her laugh. (again – not on commission – she’s just my best book enabler…)
Recent posts:
~ Speaking It Real – A Challenge For Professional Speakers
0 Responses to “Teams not herds”