I had a tricky meeting to run this week.
I won’t go into details, but there had been a few issues with a project I was working on.
Tensions were growing among the various stakeholders…
And it had come to the point where they very much needed to be resolved.
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Pleasingly, everything came out well.
Good relations and morale were restored, and the team was back to a happily harmonious state.
So I thought I would set out the tricks I used to maximise the chances of a positive outcome:
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The medium for a meeting
Some of the tensions running up to my meeting had come about because of an exchange of emails.
No one meant any harm by them.
But, the problem is, emails lack the critical subtleties of good communication.
There are no kind facial expressions, warmth of tone, or reassuring body language to help smooth away friction.
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So, first and most fundamentally, try to get people together in person when you're facing a difficult situation.
If that’s not possible, then an online video conference of the Zoom or Teams type is the next best way.
Just so long as people can talk to, and see each other, you’re much more likely to get a good outcome.
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The agenda of a meeting
Know exactly what you need to tackle, no more and no less.
Although we had some tricky issues to discuss, our meeting took less than half an hour.
And why?
Because I had drawn up a list of the six items we had to resolve.
They were clear and focused, everyone knew exactly what we were discussing…
And so we worked through them quickly and effectively.
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An added advantage of this approach is that everyone sensed good progress was being quickly made…
Which only helped with bringing us together and working in a common cause.
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The people at a meeting
On the subject of how a sense of productivity helps to ease a difficult meeting…
Only invite the people who need to be there.
I’ve noticed that meetings increase painfully in duration the moment the number of attendees grows beyond a handful.
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Keep the group to an absolute minimum for far more efficient results.
I still have nightmares about meetings from my BBC days, when various people turned up...
And had absolutely nothing to contribute apart from waffle, bumble and piffle.
Such time wasting always made the atmosphere far more ominous.
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The boss in a meeting
This sounds obvious, but is often forgotten.
For the meeting to have real purpose, you need the person who makes the decisions there.
There are few words more guaranteed to up the irritation and antagonism than…
- We’ll pass this all on up the line and see what the boss thinks.
The ability to take immediate decisions, then and there, can really help to defuse tension and secure a solution.
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The offer in a meeting
Far too many people come into meetings with a list of demands.
It's much better to have something to offer as well.
For this, you need to see the point of view of the other people.
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In my case, many had heavy workloads, were under pressure, and feared yet more toil being heaped upon them.
So, alongside what I was asking, I had a couple of ideas to offer which would help alleviate their workloads.
There wasn’t quite a cheer when I suggested them, but it wasn’t far off!
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Every meeting is a trade.
Keeping that in mind, and giving as well as taking, can really help with getting a good outcome.
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The start of a meeting
Regular readers of my musings will know I'm fixated with how to start just about anything:
Whether it’s a talk, a lecture, a blog, even a social media post…
And that very much goes for tricky meetings as well.
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If you can get off to a good beginning, you're much more likely to make strong progress and achieve a favourable result.
With my meeting, it may come as no surprise to know…
That I started by cracking a joke.
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Given we were (naturally) talking about communication, I said:
- Ironically enough, I think the root of the problem is poor communication.
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I actually got a laugh, which is unusual, and a big win for one my jokes.
But more importantly, it broke through the tension from the very first seconds of the meeting…
Got us off on the right foot…
And, I’m convinced, helped with securing a successful outcome.
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The end of a meeting
It’s not always easy to plan an ending for for a meeting, as you don’t know how things will turn out.
But there are certain home bankers which can help.
One I often used in my BBC days, when commonly I was leading a team on a big story, and we were facing a highly challenging situation was:
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We’ve been in positions like this before. Remember so-and-so stories...
But we’ve always come through, we’ve always delivered terrific television, and we’ve always triumphed.
So I have no doubt we will do so again.
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When working through difficult situations, it can help to put them into context.
Refer back to challenges you’ve faced in the past, how you’ve overcome them…
And that can end the meeting on an upbeat, energetic, and helpful note.
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One final word:
There’s never any guarantee of a smooth, effective and productive meeting.
That's this thing called life.
But long and sometimes bitter experience has taught me the seven insights, above, can greatly increase the chances of success.
