Scarce time resources and pressure of deadlines tempt us to do many things at once or to minimise the preparation and holding of meetings.
Appreciation as a fundamental need
It is certainly possible to make improvements at an operational level. But at the heart of the matter is attention and appreciation. They are based on an inner attitude towards other people. Attention and appreciation are basic human needs and ensure well-being. In the context of such an attitude, meetings and workshops can lead to completely different results. This makes them a valuable medium for increased engagement, participation, loyalty and ultimately high quality results.
Change begins on a small scale
Even small changes can help. Here are a few examples:
- Friendly and respectful wording of the invitation
- Communicate expectations and relevance of participation
- Proactively address how to deal with each other at the start of the workshop
- Clarify needs together and agree on procedure (e.g. plan breaks for cell phone or laptop, smaller time units, etc.)
- Actively involve the participants in the meeting
- “Live” a new understanding of roles: hand over responsibility on the part of the initiators, assume responsibility on the part of the participants.
- Use the positive effects of group dynamics*
*There is an interesting study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20929725/ by Anita Williams and her colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, which shows that the more empathetic the members of a group are, i.e. the more aware they are of the feelings of others, the more effective and successful the work result.
Wonder box: “Meeting”
Bringing people together to exchange ideas and make progress, solve problems, make decisions and get people excited about an idea is always a win-win situation. But sometimes it is difficult to break through established patterns as a person involved and lead them down new paths. We are familiar with change processes, their hurdles as well as caveats and accompany our clients professionally and in close consulation. What do we bring to the table? An independent view from the outside, expertise in developing and expanding methodological skills for workshops and meetings and trustworthy support in changing the way we work with and for each other.
(Woolley AW, Chabris CF, Pentland A, Hashmi N, Malone TW. Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science. 2010 Oct 29;330(6004):686-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1193147. Epub 2010 Sep 30. PMID: 20929725., “Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups“)
