Managing Effective Meetings, Part Two

By: Ed Oakley



Jack Welch once said, "When managers ask questions, they aren't looking for answers, they're looking for validation." Questions are a powerful meeting tool. They elicit participation, ideas and creativity. Even if you already know the answers, asking the right questions engages people. People embrace and own what they participate in. It creates ownership, accountability and a greater commitment to produce the results.

A case in point. An Inventory Control Manager shared that at his weekly meetings he essentially dictated what came down from above, sharing the numbers and then asking: "Any questions?" After participating in our workshop he started using Meeting Openers and Closers at the weekly meeting, as well as using Effective Questions to invite participation throughout. One key question he began to ask each participant was: "What can we count on you to do?"

There is now much more involvement and much better attendance. As a result of the improved communication in the meetings, the participants continue to ask better questions in their respective areas.

They have reduced the amount of overtime. All of those who impact Inventory Control are engaged and own it, verses only the managers and supervisors.

Their meetings shifted from information dissemination to active participation and ownership of improving results.

Focus on the end in mind.
Think about the last time you were asked, "Why isn't this working?" or "Why aren't you hitting your targets?" How helpful are those questions? What people really feel is being asked is "Why are you such a screw up?"

Brain research has discovered that the mind literally operates by asking itself questions. This is how we learn. It automatically focuses people on the question being asked.

So the quality of what we learn, how we learn, and where we focus it is directly attributable to the quality of the questions we are running on. How does this relate to meetings?

A Quality Systems and Audit Manager took over a new group. There was a perception of unfairness and bickering; everyone was mad. He found that they were arguing over the number of audits they were supposed to do every day. It seemed that some people just audited easy boxes, leaving harder audits to others.

The manager asked: "What can we do to improve this situation and make it fair?" They came up with a point system. Each person had to have so many points per day - easy audits score fewer points, harder boxes earn more points. He asked: "How do we make this work?" They all helped develop the process and benchmarks. As a result they all bought-in to making it happen.

Now they're talking to each other. They ask each other "How did you do it?" They now share the best practices so everyone tries to get above the required points. Friendly competition was established. There is no more in-fighting and complaining.

Effective questions not only turned this meeting around, they also engaged the participants in creating a solution to the problem. A problem that, because they had created, they owned.

Also, notice how their questions became infectious, and they began asking questions amongst themselves and created a continuous learning environment.

Questions ought to focus on the outcome of the meeting, constantly referring the group back to the meeting objectives. They should be opened ended and forwarded focused. "Why aren't you hitting your targets?" should be replaced by "What do we need to do to hit our targets?"

It is really a simple matter of focus. Do you want them focused on all the reasons something won't or isn't functioning, all the while feeling frustrated and probably angry? Or, do you want them focused on what it's going to take to produce the results? Questions will get you to either place depending upon which ones you ask.

Meeting closers.
Wrap up each meeting by summarizing what was accomplished. Here is a brief checklist:
a. Have tasks that were created during the meeting been assigned a "who will do what and by when?" b. Were the objectives of the meeting met? If not, is another meeting required? c. How effective was the meeting? What could we improve on for next time? d. What did you get out of the meeting?
e. What issues (PARKING LOT) came up that we were unable to resolve? What actions steps should be taken?