Banish Boring Meetings Forever

Tired of useless and boring meetings?

People don’t hate meetings. They hate boring meetings.  The problem is that most meetings are boring. They are like hushed games of golf and should be more like a spirited game of hockey.

Those who are afraid to have a productive fight or as Pat Lencioni states “healthy conflict” are destined to have meetings devolve into yawning affairs where you spend more time on your laptop than engaging your team.  Meetings are primarily for making adjustments, progress, and decisions.  Make your meetings useful and fun!

Here are six things you can do to help make meetings more productive which will lead to a better culture, better decisions and higher employee engagement.  This list is followed by a link to a short HBR article that goes into more depth on how to put each of these into action.  I encourage you to try one or two of these at your next weekly team meeting.

  1. Start by asking a question, not uttering your opinion.
  2. Help quiet people speak up (and don’t let the talkers dominate).
  3. Make it safe for people to take risks — don’t let the sharks rule.
  4. Take the contrarian view.
  5. Dissect the three most fundamental assumptions.
  6. Cultivate transparent advocates (and get rid of the hard sellers). 

HBR Article – How to Have a Good Debate in a Meeting

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Published by Bill Flynn

Gazelles Member Advisor and early stage startup specialist with a proven track record with 16 Boston-based startups (9 to date with 5 successful outcomes, advisor to 7 others); SMB to Fortune 500 companies. 20+ years of Senior Sales, Marketing and GM experience in industries including mobile advertising, security, digital advertising, e-commerce and IT. Core Competencies: Player/Coach, Metrics-driven, Execution-based philosophy, Life-long learner

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