When is the last time that you left a meeting and felt, really FELT that was a BRILLIANT meeting?
It had been brilliantly designed, everybody there knew what was expected of them, everybody who was needed was there (and on time,) everybody was prepared, the agenda points were clear and aligned to the top priorities, the number of agenda points was realistic for the time allocated, each agenda point had a clear intention, the meeting was focused on task and making decisions rather than information sharing, it was well facilitated, there was space for disagreements and debate, everybody participated with similar air time, the agreements made were clear, the actions and follow up were noted and the communication flowing from the meeting was known to all involved.
You had ‘managed’ all of the above and in addition throughout the meeting you had also made space to build relationships, as well as focus on the tasks at hand. You had voiced your opinions, worries and named your emotions. You’d raised additional perspectives from important stakeholders who weren’t present in the room. You’d clearly and respectfully opposed others ideas with an aim to create something better, rather than an aim of being the one with the best idea. Sometimes you’d agreed to disagree and still committed.
You’d done all of this and you’d book ended the meeting with a meaningful check in and check out. This, to welcome the energy of the participants as they enter the room, to build the meeting container. And to gain a sense of what you had all experienced or would take with you as you left the room.
When is the last time that you felt the participatory energy of a Brilliant meeting?
Most teams that I know, don’t experience this type of meeting. And many professionals and leaders spend their days rushing from meeting to meeting with no time to think let alone ‘do some work’ in between.
These type of brilliant meetings do exist. But they take time and they take many skills.
I call these meetings Skillful Meetings.
I believe that most people don’t experience these types of meetings, because skills involved in meetings are like the ‘Run’ stage of our Human motor (physical) development.
And as we know, we first learnt to crawl and to walk…. Never mind to fly.
Here are the development stages of Skillful Collaboration, that I propose if you’d like to experience Brilliant or Skillful meetings:
Crawl : Skillful Conversations.
Walk : Skillful Decisions.
Run : Skillful (Brilliant) Meetings
Fly : Skillful Peer Coaching
And a special NOTE about Flying.
Peer coaching is the skill that enables Teams to improve performance, grow together and develop individually and collectively.
If you’d like to get a taste of the Human skills of collaboration, why not take our Skillful Collaboration assessment tool.
It’s free and here is the link.
Want to learn more about Skillful Collaboration?
Let’s connect.
