Creating dynamic, energy-producing meetings
✍ Scribed by Richard Axelrod; Emily M. Axelrod; Julie Beedon; Robert “Jake” Jacobs
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Weight
- 56 KB
- Volume
- 2005
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1087-8149
- DOI
- 10.1002/ltl.128
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Y ou can probably remember attending at least one meeting that left you feeling energized, brimming with ideas, and eager to move ahead. If you're like most people, you probably remember many more meetings that left you feeling drained, numb, and wondering what it was all about anyway-or (if it was a meeting you called) disappointed that people seemed so bored and uninvolved.
We meet to share information, solve problems, make decisions, coordinate work, and create our future. These are important and potentially exciting tasks in the world of work, tasks that should generate energy and enthusiasm. Yet all too often meetings sap energy and enthusiasm.
We have a love-hate relationship with meetings. We like to meet because it is human to want to belong; we enjoy the human touch meetings can provide. Ever notice how meetings often start off with enthusiasm as colleagues greet each other, share coffee and doughnuts, and exchange stories and plans? Then the meeting gets under way, the PowerPoint presentation begins or the agenda is handed out, and, slowly but surely, the energy leaks out of the room. Why?
Meetings Are Powerful Rituals
W hat few managers understand is that meetings make use of stylized rituals for coming together. Practices become rituals over time, even if we do not intend it. Shaking hands, sharing coffee and doughnuts, handing out prepared materials, getting the word from the leadership, conducting PowerPoint presentations, and planning seating arrangements are examples of common meeting rituals. Human beings like rituals. They help us make meaning of what is going on and build bonds among those present. Unsuccessful meetings are often failed rituals.