Effective Meetings: Going Topless
Posted by Jan Wencel on Wed, Feb 10, 2010
Mercury News, a San Jose paper, reported a growing number of companies are mandating “topless” meetings…as in no laptops, CrackBerrys, iPhones and the like. The impetus behind the movement:
“...distracted workers so plugged in that they tune out in the middle of business meetings…” “...people have discovered a handy diversion, making more eye contact these days with their screens than one another.”
In Death by Meeting, author Patrick Lencioni offers advice for creating meetings so immersed in human connectivity, laptop temptations could vanish. Consider these recommendations he claims result in faster & better decisions, higher morale & greater bottom-line results:
Add drama to the boardroom & never get bored
Lencioni refreshingly suggests a gathering of intelligent people naturally & productively reveals different points of view. To suppress these disagreements, he explains, leads to boring meetings. He proposes in strategic meetings the meeting leader regularly seek out & uncover opposing viewpoints (“mining for conflict”) & the contributors embrace the clash, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Assign different contextual rules & watch effectiveness climb
With worthy motive, Lenvioni recommends more, not fewer, meetings. He describes the tendency of most companies to throw every type of issue into the same meeting. He proposes adopting the following multiple structures to manage different meeting content & participant expectations:
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Daily Check-Ins; 5 minutes; share daily schedule & activities; don’t sit (huddle); keep administrative; don’t cancel
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Weekly Tacticals; 45-90 minutes; review weekly activities, metrics & resolve tactical obstacles; set agenda in real time after round-the-table 60-second reporting; review 4-5 key metrics; postpone strategic discussions
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Monthly/Ad Hoc Strategics; 2-4 hours; discuss, analyze, brainstorm critical issues affecting long-term success; limit to 1-2 topics; prepare & do research; engage in good conflict
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Quarterly Off-Site Reviews; 1-2 days; review strategy, industry trends, competitive landscape, team development; get out of office; limit social activities; don’t overstructure or overburden schedule
If you want to initiate a meeting cultural shift, start by calculating how proposed change alters roles. Inform others of the change by outlining the rule, reason, & consequences (a must!). Expect challenges, and be ready to call it when you see it. Done right, social pressure will soon preside.
Who knows? Instead of people feeling naked when they show up for a meeting without their laptop, they’ll decide to attend deliberately topless.