Article: CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MEETINGS
                     Author: Sanjiv Narang,
                                 Management Consultant ,
                                 Innovation Systems.
                                 New Delhi(India)

Every time I call up a client organization , I half expect the response that the person concerned is in a meeting.
 Executives seem to be spending more than 50 % of their time in meetings.
 On calculating the cost of a meeting of HODs  , with an average salary of RS 50,000 / month , we get a figure of RS 1250 / hr for personnel costs. To this  ,  if we add the other costing heads such as overheads (Light , rent,cost of support personnel etc.) , the figure would easily reach RS 2000/hr. To this figure , we have not added the block horse called , "opportunity cost",which may be huge.
 In spite of so much time and money being spent in meetings , a conscious organizational effort to make these sessions productive is lacking.
 I have seen very few organizations conducting training programmes on "Conducting Effective Meetings". There obviously is a gap in the "Training needs analysis" framework.
 The skill set required for conducting an effective meeting consists of listening skills , questioning sakills , consolidation skills , synergizing skills and developing shared perception skills .(Fig 1)

 Let us examine each of these skills and what it entails .
1. Listening skills  :
  These are the forgotten part of communication skills. Leafing through the memories of my management schooldays ; at placement time , I remember  the scenes during group discussions  which were a part of the selection process of most companies. There used to be a literal struggle to speak and sometimes you could not even hear yourself in the din that ensued.
 The lack of development of listening skills perhaps goes back to our childhood , when there is a lot of focus on " enabling the child to speak". The child also gets a lot of positive feedback , when he / she learns to speak the first  words , sentences , poem etc. However good listening skills in the child are rarely appreciated or even noticed.Thus, "We have a brotherhood of people who want to speak most of the time and rarely listen".
 Since communication is a two way phenomenon , the problem of having good talkers but poor communicators prevails.
 The process unleashed by this phenomenon is mapped in fig 2.
 
 The lack of listening skills results in a limited perception of the situation , resulting in inadequate decisions and wasteful tangential discussions. This happens all the time during one to one or group discussions.
 Let us examine the interaction case given below :
  Person 1 : What if we conduct performance research in order to   identify performance gaps and process gaps ?
  Person 2  :(Response) Performance is an internal matter of the teams.    So , external interference is not required.
 In this case , person 2 is reacting only to the term "performance". This is leading to an inadequate response and perhaps a missed opportunity.
 If instead of immediately reacting in a  judgemental way ,  person 2 had asked questions to clarify and expand perception regarding person 1's thought process , the response would have been different.
 It emerges from this example that the term "listening skills" needs to be mutated to "perceiving skills " in interaction situations such as meetings. Though 100 % perception is not possible , it can be increased through questioning.

2. Questioning skills  : 
   Framing the right questions , is a useful skill to expand perception regarding a situation or a problem.
 Building on the interaction in case A , the person 2 could have responded with the following questions :
  a. What does performance research entail ?
  b. How would it affect performance ?
  c. Where has performance research been done and what was the   impact ?
  d. What makes it a useful management tool ?
 The resultant perception expansion would have led to a totally different action plan. In order to be skilled at questioning , the meeting conductor should :
  a. Approach the situation from different angles and frame a   question from  each angle.
  b. Ask for :
   - observable data
   - Interpretation of data
   - Assumptions
   - Successes / failures
   - Analysis and synthesis of success / failure .
 Since these are the layers of mental patterns of individuals the dominant perspectives are bound to come to the surface. These dominant perspectives have to be captured and consolidated.

3.  Consolidation skills  :
 The dominant perspectives generated during discussions have to be consolidated by the meeting conductor. If the consolidation is visual , which every group member can see, it would be more effective and would serve the purpose of developing a shared perception among the group.
The meeting conductor can use an OHP or a laptop with an LCD or a white board or a flip chart to visually consolidate the perspectives as they get thrown up(Fig.3).
 
For example : If the topics under discussion in a meeting were to be " Skills for conducting effective meetings" then Fig1 indicates the type of visual consolidation that is necessary.
           Visual Consolidation wholebrains the communication process resulting not only in shared perceptions but also better comprehension & recall.
            One international software co.A,has integrated visual consolidation of perspectives as standard operating practice for all meetings.

4. Developing shared perception  :
  Developing a shared perspective among all the people attending , is one of the most crucial tasks of the meeting conductor.
 Visual consolidation of the different perspectives thrown up will help in expanding perceptions and developing a shared perspective about the meeting focus area. However , equally important areas for the development of shared perspectives are the meeting End points ,Objectives , Process and Norms.
 A shared perspective of these meeting parameters synergizes the proceedings.
 Taking the case of a meeting of managers called for "Generating flexible manufacturing systems " .  The meeting was scheduled for 4 hours. The ideas being generated by one team member  were being shot down by the others resulting in acrimonious discuusions. Therefore , even after 2 hours , no progress had been made.
 This clearly indicates the lack of synergy among the group members.If the meeting conductor had proactively evolved a set of norms for the meeting the meeting effectiveness would have been better.
Example of meeting norms:
When a perspective  is generated ,everybody would look for the value in it.The practice of immediate judgement is to be avoided till the values in the perspective have been consolidated.

5. Synergizing skills  :Meetings are an important tool for creating alignment & synergy among a group of personnel.However ,due to the lack of meeting processes,this does not happen.
  Let us examine an interaction that is frequently visible :"
 Person 1 : We need to work back from the end and identify retailers who  would be able to sell the product.
 Person 2 : This kind of thinking is not upto the mark. It would lead  nowhere.
  This interaction indicates lack of synergy among the meeting members and the lack of synergizing skill of the meeting conductor. Person 1 is making a suggestion , while Person 2 is making a judgement which is personal and negative.`
 This kind of thinking processes result in idea murders & the creation of negative feelings among the attendees.There are fundamentally two kinds of work patterns which are visible during meetings namely perspective sharing & judgement.
           The evolution of the processes & norms for both perspective sharing & judgement would enhance productivity & reduce the incidences of disharmony & discontentment .
   Ex:
Perspective Sharing process:
 
Norms: When a perspective is being shared,the attendees would:
1.Ask questions in order to expand perception.
2.Delay judgement till the value in the perspective has been consolidated.

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