Harvard Business Review asks – is it possible to have a meeting without rank or file having an impact?
I don’t think it’s escapable.
However, you can build a relationship based on trust, fairness and value, which enables the best meeting outcomes.
Don’t kid yourself though, this isn’t a family dynamic, it’s a team dynamic. Your staff don’t owe you respect, but by building an atmosphere where learning from failure is acceptable, where pushing the limits of what can be done is encouraged and where innovation accepts the fact that we stumble as fast and as efficiently as possible, and where your reputation is based on honesty and fairness, you can facilitate dialogue whether in meetings or out, that are healthy, where feelings can be discussed and not just outcomes, where you can learn to know the person on the other side of the table.
If you are on the other side of the table, expect those things of your leaders, if you aren’t receiving it, call it out by using I words instead of you words.
What do I mean by I and You words? – Here’s the difference:
You style – “You have created a terrible environment where no one wants to try anything!”
I style – “I often achieve my best work when the environment is made of trust and where innovation is encouraged.”
