Meetings Re-Imagined!

In business there are many who find meetings a waste of time and try to make them as short small and few as possible Many try to avoid meeting people and have gate keepers and delay tactics ready to brandish Some leaders use meetings as ways to ensure discipline and instill fearHow meetings have changedFor the past year the ability to exercise power through meeting power structures such as leveraging gate keepers seating arrangements and arriving late or slipping away early are far less impactful in a zoom world Everyone is a single square and showing up late means entering an empty virtual space or more likely the meeting is proceeding without youThe number of meetings has increased rather than decreased because in a collaborative fast moving networked society even with all the social networks and collaborative tools in the world it is hard to be a manager or a leader without meetings even if it these days it is remote via a screen and you can be dressed in your pajamasAnother way that meetings have changed in the socially distanced arena is that we often find the meetings more tiring these days The reason is not because we have trouble staring at other people but because in the office we rarely looked at each other when we were in a meetingWe did not attend meetings but quotstareathonsquot where we looked not at each other but at three screens A big screen where some presentation was being projected our laptop or iPad where we were attending to emails or reading the news and the mobile screen balanced on our knees below the table where we engaged in social and text messaging Yes we were in a room with other people but we were really staring away from them at some combination of screensInstead of circumventing what cannot usually be avoided why not think about how to get the most from the meetings you will be spending your time inA different way to approach meetingsThere are a lot of books and articles on meeting management and how to get the most out of gatherings Most of them are utter and complete BS because they all focus onamp160how you can get the most out of a meetingamp160while the focus should beamp160how can you give the most in a meetingIf you go to a meeting with an quotextractionquot mindset versus a quotgivingquot mindset you are likely face a number of problems including a missing meetings where you may have been able to share your knowledge and therefore build goodwill and your brand b become so focused on what you are looking for that you do not discover what you need and c becoming over confident that you know more than anybody else and so you have the ability to forecast before attending a meeting can where you benefit and where you do notSo you end up with less and less knowledge find yourself shocked and surprised at things that come from left field and you also suffer a diminished reputationTo maximize your learning your reputation and upgrade your meeting experience focus on generosity empathy and energy as the keys to meetings1 GenerosityHow can you leave the person or the people whom you are meeting with or presenting to with a gift a gift of knowledge or insight or a way to see things that they did not have before or something that makes them believe that it was a good use of their time to be in the meetingBesides knowledge some other ways to be generous include appreciation of their skills and their contributions Everyone wants to be acknowledged and recognized for their good workAnother way to be generous is to provide guidance People are hungry for advice directions and stories to navigate whatever challenge or situation they face Providing perspectives stories and experiences resonate and scale in empowering and growing peopleKnowledge Appreciation Guidance2 EmpathyHow can you truly understand the other person39s perspective and point of view because in doing so you will grow even if you disagree with their perspective or view If you are presenting how can you make sure that your talk is relevant to the audience and the issues they have in mind and not some boiler plate boiled anew Is it not ironic when speakers talk of relevance and customization and customer or content is king but do not customize or make relevant their content to their audience Basically they are saying that their time is more valuable than that of the audienceThree ways to ensure empathy are to seek to understand by asking listening and restating the problem and situation by reframing the problem using analogies and other categories and finally by sharing relevant personal experiencesUnderstanding signals you are listening Reframing telegraphs that the problem or challenge being faced has been shared by others Personal experiences ensure a human connection and reenforces that you have been in this person39s shoes or have seen others who have been3 EnergyHow can you leave the folks in the meeting more energized and feeling better about themselves So much of success is attitude belief and hope So many meetings leave folks dispirited brow beaten scared and worried One does not have to be all bouncing beans unrealistic but let39s be pragmatically enthusiastic if you want progressThere are three keys to ending a meeting with energy First is clarity People should be clear what next steps are for each of them Second is belief which is a belief that they can tackle these next steps and finally a plan which is how they go about doing the next steps At the end of every meeting are things clear do people believe they have the tools and skills to do what is next and do they have a planThe giving mindset to meetings is omnichannel and omnisituation effectiveBy focusing on giving versus getting you are almost guaranteeing a great meeting because at minimum the other folks leave the room better off and feeling positive about you And in feeling that way they become an ally a supporter and an advocate for you so you get something out of itBut actually what happens is much more In the course of the meeting once they understand that you are giving without asking they give in return Knowledge Insight Help Lots of other stuff Often in the meeting or as a follow upFinally because you have treated their time as precious they treat your time as preciousDon39t think of how to put barriers up to meeting people Don39t think about what you can get Don39t think through yourself as a filterThis approach to meeting works in both the real world and the virtual world It works across every culture and country It is effective in both personal and business situationsThink about the other person or peopleGive yourself and your time firstYou will find meetings are valuable fun educational and energizingIt39s not about youIt39s about something biggerClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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Meetings Re-Imagined!

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Rishad Tobaccowala

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Rishad Tobaccowala

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