Almost every client I’ve ever worked with has confessed that they don’t do meetings as well as they would like to. I think this is a universal complaint. We could – and should – do meetings better.
But thinking about doing meetings better is not just about the meetings themselves. The fact that we continue to have meetings we know are ineffective, and continue to have them in ways we know are not as productive as they could be, is a real problem. It’s a symptom of a corporate mindset that doesn’t take time to step away from the “dance floor” – it doesn’t allow for time to get onto the proverbial balcony to reflect, reconsider and recreate. If we don’t do this for meetings, we probably don’t do it for much else either. We should do more reflection and adjustment.
It’s also a symptom of a lack of a culture of innovation. Innovation cannot be created by memo from the CEO’s office or by a vision statement. Innovation requires a culture, which specifically includes a culture of experimentation. This must pervade your organisation. You need to be trying things at every level, every day. Some will work, some won’t. We need our teams to get used to this, and comfortable with it.
And this is why I think we should be spending more time, effort and energy on doing meetings better. It’s not just so we get better meetings. It’s so we build better businesses.
Here’s a 2.5 minute video that will give you and your team a conversation starter to make this a reality in your business.
