How to Start Your Meetings on the Right Note
How to Start Your Meetings on the Right Note: How you start a meeting is critical. Opening your meetings with the proper intention sets the tone for a productive, honest conversation. Watch the video to see why setting the tone at the start of a meeting is essential if you want to create the space for an open and honest conversation.
Start Your Meetings on the Right Foot
I’m a huge fan of setting the intention at the start of every meeting.
And by setting the intention, certainly, I mean reminding people of the purpose of the meeting. “Here’s why we’re meeting. Here’s what we’re hoping to achieve by the end of the meeting. Here’s what we’re probably not going to accomplish by the end of the meeting.”
And I think it can sometimes be just as important to talk about what you’re not going to accomplish. So you set those parameters as well so you set the expectations very clearly.
But by setting the intention, I’m also talking about setting the right tone for the meeting and setting the right mindset for the meeting.
A couple of years ago, I was facilitating a meeting where there were two opposing factions that had been butting heads. So, people were a little stressed out about sitting down together. They were worried it was going to be a very contentious, conflict-ridden meeting. So right at the start of the meeting, I did something very simple, but very effective. And I do this very often at the start of all meetings, where I simply laid out the intention.
“Does everyone here,” I asked, “Have the best possible interest of the entire organization at heart? Does everyone here have the best possible interest at heart of the entire organization and of the people on the other side of this issue?” And then I asked the negative, “Is there anyone here who doesn’t have the best interest of the other side or the entire organization at heart? It’s okay if that’s how you feel, but I think we should identify you right now.”
It may seem silly to ask that question. You might think, “Well, who’s going to put up their hand and say, ‘Yeah, not really. I don’t have the best interest of the organization at heart?”
But I still think it’s important to establish that tone, to set the intention, to plant that seed that you want people to have the best interest of everybody at heart, to set that tone for people to be more receptive to new ideas, to compromise, to listen to the other side in a contentious issue in a contentious meeting.
So what do you do? Do you do anything to set the tone at the start of your meeting? Do you do anything to set the intention at the start of your meeting? Please leave a comment in the comment box. And if you haven’t yet subscribed to Inspiring Workplaces, please subscribe to our You Tube channel here where we talk about creating inspiring workplaces that drive outrageous results.
Michael Kerr. Michael Kerr is a Hall of Fame business speaker and the author of 8 books, including The Jerk-Free Workplace, Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire, and The Humor Advantage.
