Just in the last week, we’ve had three conversations with clients lamenting that their colleagues are silent or distracted in meetings where our clients know their colleagues would make a valuable contribution if they engaged more. They asked us, for example, “How can we get people to share more in our meetings? It feels like we’re missing out on important knowledge and energy from people.”
The old cliche says, “80% of success is showing up.” But when it comes to meetings, a lot of people show up in the sense that they’re physically (or virtually) present, but they often don’t really show up.
People spend tons of time in meetings, even in orgs that try to reduce meeting overhead. And many people experience meetings as a waste of time (or at least less valuable than other things they could be doing).
We’ve talked before about how to plan and facilitate meetings so they’re not a waste of time. Today, let’s look at a quick way to prepare to participate in a meeting so you maximize the value for you and the other participants.
Next time you’re invited to participate in a meeting, try this “5 minute meeting prep,” and take a few minutes to reflect on these questions:
- What’s the purpose of this meeting? (if you don’t know, ask in advance, but in a curious way)
- What information, experience, or perspective do I have that can help achieve that purpose? (again, if you don’t know why you were invited, ask something like, “I want to make sure I contribute effectively during this meeting. When you invited me, what were you hoping I’d specifically bring to it?”)
- What do I need to bring to the meeting? (e.g., artifacts, ideas, attitude)
- What do I NOT need to bring to the meeting? (i.e., what baggage do I need to process before I’m in the room? what distractions do I need to set aside?)
- How do I need to engage in the meeting to make it a better experience for everyone?
Even just a few minutes reflection can get you ready to fully show up, making the meeting more valuable for you and for everyone else involved. Imagine what would happen if everyone did this!
Give it a try and let us know how it goes!
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