Avoiding the meeting after the meeting
We prefer less, not more, meetings in the workplace yet the culture of meetings after the meeting is alive and well within businesses of all shapes and sizes. And its impacting, productivity, engagement and business performance.
Who hasn’t been part of a conversation about a colleague or a manager or a decision that no one was prepared to raise in the actual meeting? If you haven’t then I’d bet that one of those meetings was about you!
The uncomfortable truth is that leaders are talked about, judged and held to a standard that is both unreasonable and unrealistic to live up to. Ignorance can be bliss for leaders not knowing what their teams or colleagues are thinking and saying about them, relying solely on a six-monthly engagement survey. The issue is that this creates an artificially polite environment and ultimately impacts business performance.
Today, these meetings after the meeting are often held via WhatsApp (the modern water cooler). And can actually take place during the meeting.
I’ve been part of many meetings after the meeting when I didn’t have the courage to shut it down or find a way to raise it with the team or individual directly. I’ve also created environments when the meeting after the meeting was about me and my leadership.
My first constructive feedback from a direct report about my leadership, was many years ago from Griffo, an insurance BDM, who had the courage to provide direct feedback to me instead of being part of meetings and after the meeting. This helped not just me, but our entire team.
We (Encore) see and face into this with our clients regularly. There are some simple (not easy!) steps we can all take to improve performance and some resources to help along the way.
Step 1 – Create a safe environment for people to say what they want to say to colleagues and managers – encourage and celebrate constructive feedback.
Step 2 – Develop structures to enable the right conversation, at the right time, in the right way – deliberate forums for constructive feedback, and coaching on how feedback should be provided and received.
Step 3 – Role model the behaviours you want and reward others for those behaviours. Speaks for itself!
Step 4 – Accept the fact that consensus is rarely achieved and reaching a committed decision is the goal – It’s OK to openly disagree and then still commit.
Step 5 – Treat feedback and respectful challenge as a valuable gift for you and your business. See step 3.
Over time I’ve developed methods and structures to encourage more honest conversations and direct feedback from colleagues and team members.
As uncomfortable as it is, the disagreement, challenge and constructive feedback is when the most valuable development takes place. This leads to stronger trust and alignment, better and more confident decision making, and it makes execution easier.
The result? Improved business performance and better relationships (now isn’t that what business is all about!).
If you’d like to discuss tips and traps on how to identify and address this in your business, send me a message.
If you'd like to know the feedback Griffo gave me….That’s a story best told in person!
Below are some resources I have found helpful over the years:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
Leading Teams – Matthew Vandermeer
No Triangles – www.rachaelrobertson.com.au
The Colin James Method – The Colin James Method®
