Meeting Essentials: Restructuring
Have you ever found yourself nearing the end of alon and supposedly productive meeting, only to discover as the meeting enters its final stage that you've barely scratched the surface of the issues? After talking through several potential but ultimately unworkable ideas, you now realize that the true solution is within grasp, but there may not be time to uncover it. It seems that your only option is to continue the meeting over email, but the limitations of that format cause you to worry about time constraints and possible miscommunication.
There are several possible reasons that you and your team might have ended up in this problematic position. As a manager, you know the importance of a detailed agenda, but in a world of rapidly changing circumstances and last-minute updates, a minute-by-minute plan can become an impossible ideal. Other times, your team may have come up with a unique and creative solution, but its imaginative nature makes real-world implementation an impossibility.
Attempting to adapt such a solution to the present circumstances can take more time than coming up with the idea itself, and even after considerable effort, it still might prove itself fruitless. On top of these concerns, a looming deadline can cause tension to build up between members of your team, and although addressing interpersonal conflict is necessary for a leader, it can waste valuable time and distract the group from the ultimate goal. Watching precious minutes tick away may leave you feeling pessimistic, but in actuality, you have far more resources than you think.
Time
Even without a strongly structured agenda, time is a resource that you, as the leader, can use to your advantage. When you feel that your meeting has gone astray, remind your team that although interpersonal issues are important to you, they'll need to be addressed at a later point due to the approaching deadline. Time limitations also provide you with an easy way to filter out unrealistic ideas without having to detail specific flaws. In the end, your team knows that they have a job to do, and they'll work hard to get it done.
Restructure
Direct but simple questions like "Does this meet our goals?" "Is this in line with corporate philosophy?" or "Is this possible given our time/budget constraints?" are quick ways to isolate and dismiss unfeasible ideas. When restructuring a discussion, the best questions you can ask will have yes or no answers. At times, you may find it necessary to restate the problem, which might also require you to restate an answer. Don't view this as a setback: instead, view it as an opportunity to set up a refutation pattern. With a solid refutation pattern in place, unrealistic ideas can be weeded out much more efficiently.
Ask
One of the best refutation pattern questions is "In simple terms, what issues do you see with this solution?" Sometimes, people find it hard to convey their thoughts, especially in a less structured environment. Asking this question is a nice way of getting them to collect and describe their ideas in a clearer and more time-efficient manner.
When time is running out, a leader must find ways to salvage the discussion. By using time to steer your team, asking simple questions, and setting up a good refutation pattern, it is still possible to save your meeting. Although your team may struggle in their search for the perfect answer, by exercising your leadership skills, you will be able to drive them to a clear, concise, and elegant solution. You'll also have proven your ability to lead in a positive way, even under difficult circumstances. In other words, you'll have shown your creativeship.
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