Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business meeting. There you are sitting in the room, while someone in the "expert" or "boss" chair speaks to you or at you. There you are, not aligned with that person's mission or vision. There you are, feeling apart from the process. There you are, lacking energy and the desire for being there. There you are, hearing what is going wrong and what you or your team or department needs to change or improve. How are you feeling?
Are you feeling a great connection to the meeting? Are you feeling enthusiastic about being in attendance at the meeting? Are you fully present at the meeting? Are you deeply tuned in and listening with your heart and your head? Are you inspired to co-create, participate, and contribute? Or, are you ready to fall asleep, or count the minutes of what you feel is wasted time?
My experience in my two plus decades of being in business and in coaching business clients around the world is that the system of meetings, clearly, must change. Most meetings don't include participant involvement and actually serve to tune people out rather than tune them in, and as a result, the intention of the meeting falls short of its purpose. In other words, they really can be a waste of precious company time.
The process of Meeting Alignment, that we've been teaching companies around the world, has allowed them to use a systematic process that engages people in meetings and creates a desire for them to contribute and fully participate in these business meetings.
The Meeting Alignment Process and the results it creates include:
A desire to co-create: The purpose of a meeting isn't to get across "your" agenda; it shifts to sharing your thoughts and hearing fully the thoughts and ideas of others to co-create the meeting purpose and actions.
Deep tuning in: Most meetings involve people talking and listening to themselves. The Meeting Alignment Process teaches people to fully listen with their hearts and to listen beyond the words to what is not said, to emotions, and to fully hear others.
The Meeting Alignment Process teaches techniques of being non-judgmental, so that people can fully hear and support each other and let new ideas IN vs. rule out and defend against why things won't work. It produces a safe environment in which people feel encouraged to participate.
Non-attachment: Many people think meetings are about a specific outcome occurring ? the meeting holder's outcome? that's a surefire way to alienate people and result in them NOT wanting to support you. The Meeting Alignment Process allows for each person to give up "their" outcome and allows the meeting and solutions to unfold for the good of the entire group.
What's wrong: Most meetings focus on problems, fixing problems, or informing people of change. The meeting needs to come from a place of asking what IS working and involve what IS the right type questions. These questions form the basis of creating a positive energy flow and opening up creativity. It's the basic principle of encouraging a sense of positivity rather than negativity.
Framework of questions: Questions in this process focus on what is working, why it works, what would be the perfect ideal vision, and what isn't quite right yet, and then, coming up with resources and inspired actions to create the outcome of the meeting.
Feel good! When people attend a meeting where EVERY idea is praised and contributions rewarded and people thanked and really appreciated for their contributions, this raises self-esteem, confidence, and morale. People want to participate in meetings that make them feel good, not only about the company they work for, but about themselves and their role in it.
This process is effective in all companies and will work with all size groups. It requires a shift in the employer and leaders' thinking, from managing and bossing and telling to coaching and co-creating and sharing. The effect is profound. People treated with value and respect, rise up to challenges. They are more excited to solve problems, participate in the mission and vision of the company, and create more productivity. They feel that the company's success is their success. It motivates them to greater achievement.
Companies following a systematic process of creating a Meeting Alignment Process, take morale out of the toilet bowl fast. Their employees are happier, their retention rates rise, and the corporate culture shifts to one of enthusiasm.
A beneficial win-win situation is created and everybody gets to bask in success.
Written by Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, the CEO ofCoaching Instruction.com, popular Master Certified personal and business Coach, sought after Public Speaker, and Author of bestsellers, "Stop Managing, Start Coaching", "Work Yourself Happy", "Coaching for an Extraordinary Life" and "Create Your Ideal Body". She can be contacted via the web site http://www.terrilevine.com or by telephone: 215-699-4949.
no-contract cleaning service Glenview ..At a time when many companies are scaling down their... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More
Managing a small business continues to become more challenging. However,... Read More
Teams don't have to be aligned with the goals of... Read More
It's a great sunny day so it's time to get... Read More
Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More
Just today my partner Russ and I sat down to... Read More
Leaders are faced with unlocking the potential in the people... Read More
The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort of... Read More
The effects of conflict in the workplace are widespread and... Read More
Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More
Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More
You're at a meeting with key staff. You want some... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
One of the best lessons I have learned is the... Read More
No figure in history is like General Patton. He was... Read More
I declared a Communications Major two years into school, after... Read More
Several years ago I took an assignment as a Manager... Read More
We all know someone who just drives us batty. Perhaps... Read More
Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More
It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More
Are workers telling the truth when they say they are... Read More
When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More
Survival: The Name of the New Economic Game People rarely... Read More
house cleaning company Glencoe ..Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More
There are few industries or service type businesses, which are... Read More
As the world of manufacturing has become increasingly competitive, managers... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
The rise of the internet has given businesses a new... Read More
Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More
Companies often have incentives for reps, but sometimes that isn't... Read More
Everyone knows, works or lives with "innies." Who are they... Read More
The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort of... Read More
To be a success is not always to be a... Read More
1. Involve them. Many employees want to be involved in... Read More
Turbulent TwistersYou've read about it in the headlines and experienced... Read More
The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable... Read More
When leaders, consultants and managers require ideas, they automatically tend... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
7 Key Dimensions of High Performance Teams We can always... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
Feedback:Most experts agree both types; constructive and positive feedback are... Read More
As a business owner, I've had staff come and go... Read More
I declared a Communications Major two years into school, after... Read More
When was your last team celebration? Have you been way... Read More
There's nothing that matches the power of teamwork to accomplish... Read More
Most believe that leadership is an innate quality that some... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
Team Building |