People are programmed to pay attention when there’s conflict. We tune in to drama.
Hollywood directors know this. Which is why we’ll pay $15 for the privelege to sit silently in grease-stained seats for 120 minutes in a dark room full of strangers.
But your weekly staff meeting? Sometimes those feel like one hour of your life that you’ll never get back.
Let’s face it. Most of the meetings you sit through at work are boring.
And that’s a shame because meetings are one of the highest leverage activities we can do. Meetings are where big decisions are made, new ideas are dreamed up, and priorities are made clear.
Lazy meetings are ineffective. Uninspired huddles are a cruel form of corporate punishment. But worst of all, they’re simply not fun!
It’s time we change that.
In his book, Death by Meeting, author Patrick Lencioni gives us the ingredients we need to make our meetings more interesting:
- The Hook: You need to set the initial tone for the meeting and communicate why this meeting is important. Give them a reason to care. Make them appreciate and understand what’s at stake.
- Mine for Conflict: Smart people with different perspectives will almost always lead to disagreement. This is a good thing! Drama is the secret ingredient to an engaging meeting.
- Give Permission: Make it clear that it’s okay to respectfully disagree. Encourage people to challenge each other’s ideas and actively participate.
Meetings don’t need to be a necessary evil of doing business. We just need to learn how to do them right.
Next time, try to incorporate a little bit of drama. If you want to have an effective meeting, start by making it interesting.
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