scroll down for English version
“我爱死我们的团队会议了”– 没人会这么说，从来都没有！
“如果想浪费下时间，那就组织一次会议吧”正如古语所言
然而，要想把事情做得漂亮，你必须和他人有互动。当你面临一群人的时候，会议是不可避免的。
有些问题需要有答案，有些进展需要和大家分享。还有一些借口。。。有时候就是这样。
虽然科技带给我们了无时不在的电子邮件和即时消息，这些让我们甚至在厕所时也会被跟踪，但是没有什么比面对面的会议更有效果。
不是所有的会议都一样的：
在美国，很多公司花费了370亿美元在没有必要及没有效率的会议上！我们还没看其他国家的数据！天哪.。。。
你要如何比较:
如果你相信你的会议不会消耗大量资源，请考虑以下几点:
a. 会议会占据时间 –也就是你和公司拥有的最有价值的资产。如果一个7人的会议占据了20分钟且没有良好的产出，那么这段时间的聊天浪费的不是20分钟，而是20*7 = 140分钟。这140分钟可以用在具体重要的项目上。
b. 会议会引起混乱。 你有没有遇到过几个人都在同时分享自己的观点，但是没有人的观点被采用？不仅整个会议室会变得像电视里的辩论赛，而且还会培养出团队中的敌对现象。谁会赢？是声音最大的还是老板最中意的人，然后剩下的人都会有感觉意气消沉，无精打采和感到厌恶。
c. 会议会产生疑惑感。通常在会议的尾声都会让大家有种有事要完成的意识 – 但是没人知道谁来负责。有这么种期望，总有人会管的。但是谁呢？如果大家抱着这样的心态离开会议，那么他们会比开会前跟困惑。
我们需要再三考虑来进行会议：
全球来看，员工的工作参与度只有13%。困惑，混乱，没有效率以及让人心烦的会议是其中一个重要的因素。对于每月可能举行60次会议的高管和经理们来说，这些赌注的风险非常高。
当能有目的性的重新设计会议，且有引导的进行，那么讨论会进行的很快，会议以效率和行动为中心。团队成员不仅能将自己的问题在会议中陈述，而且还能知道自己接下来该做什么。
下面是5个你必须了解帮助你改变会议质量的简单的转型步骤：
1. 有签到和离场登记的步骤：
签到和离场登记是有效会议的基础。
2. 严格遵守一次讨论一个问题！
这点非常的重要。
你有没有经历过在会议中如果你提出了一个问题，另外一位同事会抢着说一个类似的问题？出现的现象就是问题一个接着一个的被提出，却从来没有回答最初的问题。
所以，通过严格遵守一次讨论一个问题，会给团队的个体产生一个安全的空间来分享各自的问题并且与他人互动然后找到解决方案。这样就不会有怕自己的问题被他人打断的恐惧了。
3. 问“你需要什么？”
主持开会的人问每个人问题的时候，最简单的就是问：“你需要什么？”这会强迫被提问的人更清楚需要得到什么帮助。人们会寻找以下5件事的其中之一：
一个实际、可见的下步行动，在悬而未决的任务中取得进展，影响个人在组织中的地位。
一个项目或者一个更大的产出
分享信息 – 例如更新进展
通过讨论和头脑风暴来弄清现有的话题，项目或者下步行动
如果目前个人职位的职责没有良好的支持原有的期望，那么需要为这个项目或者下步行动设置一个新的期望。
4. 回顾上次会议中的承诺：
当开展一次会议时，花一些时间来回顾上次会议提到的承诺。请负责每一个项目的负责人来分享是否有新的进展。只是单纯的分享，没有讨论。
当团队成员得知需要分享各自进展时，他们会尽自己最大努力将任务往前进行，而不会拖延。
一个对承诺的回顾同时也会显露他们目前状态和渴望产出的差距– 这会给他们一个机会来提出问题以及提出上面提到的5点来让达到自己的目标。
5. 每次会议选择一位秘书和一位主持人
秘书的职责：
计划会议及散发邀请
做会议纪要
每次讨论后在每一项议程后备注好谁会负责下步行动/项目。
和团队成员分享会议记录
根据在笔记中被指派的具体负责下步计划和项目的人员，团队中的每个人都会清楚
秘书也可以维护团队的项目可以被引用和评审的系统。这是一种很容易分清职责的方法，也能保持公司或者一个团队的发展。
主持人是看门人的作用，防止被打扰，谈论改革方向时激进的对话以及总体的保持会议的目的性和无压力。
改变：
这5个步骤完全改变了团队的心态和他们看到会议的方式。
会议时间短，自然流畅，虽然这需要忘却那些旧的无效和低效的习惯。、
议程项目不只是触及——议程是有目的地将一切有效的下步行动分配给可靠，有责任感的人员。
大家对会议的态度很积极。他们结束讨论后会觉得自己的任务有了进展。
最后的重要一点，思想的汇合导致了超乎寻常的创造性解决方案，这些解决办法超越了由仅仅一位“问题解决者”有限的可能性领域。
现在轮到你了：
趁你想要改变的愿望仍在燃烧时，开始把这些建议使用在你的会议上。
你不会立刻让所有的会议都成功。突破无效和自我驱动的模式是需要时间的。
但是一步步来。每次承诺一点点。很快你就能开展有质的飞跃的会议了。
English Version
5 Key Shifts to Game-Changing Meetings
“I love my team meetings!” - Said no one – ever!
“If you want to waste time, organise a meeting” as the old saying goes
However, to do anything great and wonderful, you have to interact with people. And when you deal with groups of people, there is no way to avoid meetings.
There are questions to be answered, Progress updates to be shared. Excuses to be made…! It happens.
Though technology has given us the ubiquitous email and Instant Messages which follows us everywhere (even to the bathroom), nothing offers a satisfactory alternative to face to face meetings.
Not All Meetings are Equal:
Companies in the US spend $37 billion on unnecessary and unproductive meetings! Let’s not even look at how much it costs anywhere else! Yikes.
How do you compare?
If you believe that your meetings do not drain substantial resources, consider the following:
a. Meetings take up time – the most valuable asset you and your company possess. And they have a compounding effect. Imagine this… If a meeting between seven employees takes 20 minutes with no productive output, then that little session of chit chat wastes not 20 minutes but 20*7 = 140 minutes. 140 minutes that could be used to take concrete steps on key projects.
b. Meetings turn chaotic. Have you been in meetings where several people speak together to put their opinions across, but no one gets heard? Not only does the boardroom turn into the setting for a melodramatic News Hour like debate, but it also fosters hostility in team members. Who wins? It’s the loudest or the boss’ favourite who gets all the attention, and the rest are left feeling dispirited, disengaged and resentful.
c. Meetings add to the confusion. Meetings often end in an awareness that things need to get done – but no one knows who is responsible for them. There’s an expectation that someone will take care of it. But who? People walk away from such discussions more confused than before.
Meetings Need to be Re-Thought:
All around the world engagement at work is a record all-time low of 13%. Confusing, chaotic, unproductive and downright frustrating meetings are a significant contributing factor. The stakes are extra ordinarily high for executives and managers who may have 60 meetings per month.
When Meetings are Purposefully re-designed, and conducted, discussions are fast, efficient & action oriented. Team members not only leave with their issues addressed but also with more clarity on who has to do what.
Here are five simple shifts you must initiate to have game-changing meetings:
1. Have a Check-In & Check-Out Rounds:
Check-ins and check-outs lay the foundation of productive meetings.
2. Discuss One Issue at a Time, Strictly!
I can’t stress how important this is.
Have you ever been in meetings where you raise an issue, and it gets hijacked by a colleague who has related concerns? The group ends up hopping from one problem to another, never actually addressing the original problem.
So, by strictly discussing one issue at a time, it creates a safe space for individuals to share their problems and then engage with others to find asolution. And this happens without the fear of going off-track because of someone else’s related or unrelated tensions.
3. Ask “What Do You Need?”
The person facilitating the meeting asks each person with an issue, the simple yet powerful question: “What do you need?” It forces the person to get clear about the kind of assistance they are seeking for a resolution. People look for one of these five things:
A physical, visible Next Action to make progress on a pending task that affects the individual’s place in the organization.
A project or a larger outcome.
Sharing of information – like progress updates.
Clarity around an existing topic, project or Next Action through discussion and brainstorming.
Setting a new expectation for a project or Next Action if the current accountabilities of the individual’s position do not support the original expectation.
4. Review the Commitments of Previous Meetings:
When starting a meeting, spend some time reviewing the commitments of previous meetings.
Ask each person accountable for a project to share if there have been any updates. Just share updates. No discussion.
When team members know that they are expected to share their progress, they try their best to get the needle moving on their tasks and are less likely to procrastinate.
A commitments review also reveals the gap between where they are now and the desired outcome – giving them an opportunity to raise issues and request the five items listed in the previous section to move forward on their goals.
5. Appoint a person to act as Secretary and another as Facilitator for Every Meeting
The Role of the Secretary is to:
Schedule the meetings & send out invitations
Make a note of the agenda items
After discussing each agenda item make a note of who’s going to take up the Next Action / Project.
Share the minutes of meeting with the team members
By committing in writing who has been assigned specific Next Actions & Projects, everyone on the team gets instant clarity.
A secretary can also maintain the system where the team’s Projects can be referenced and reviewed. It is an easy way to cement accountabilities, and it also keeps a log of how the company (or the team) evolves.
A facilitator will act as the gatekeeper, preventing disruptions, nudging conversations in the direction of resolution and in general keeping the sessions objective and stress-free.
The Changes:
These five steps have completely re-wired a team mentality and the way they perceive meetings.
The sessions are shorter and flow naturally, although it takes a bit unlearning the old ineffective and inefficient habits.
Agenda items are not just touched on – they are to all intents and purposes tackled effectively with concrete Next Actions assigned to responsible, accountable individuals.
People have positive associations with meetings. They walk away from the discussions with the sense of having made progress on their tasks.
Last but not the least the confluence of ideas leads to exceptionally creative solutions which would have been beyond the limited field of possibilities as viewed by a single “Problem Solver.”
Now it’s Your Turn:
Start incorporating these suggestions in your meetings while your desire to make a difference is still burning bright.
You won’t be able to nail all meetings right away. Breaking free of unproductive, ego driven patterns takes time.
But take baby steps. Commit a little. And soon you’ll start having game-changing meetings.
