One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
Do you need to raise the heat in your meetings?
Is it too hot?
Or maybe it’s too cold.
What’s the temperature in your meetings?
And, no. I don’t mean the room temperature.
One of the leadership competencies from the Kansas Leadership Center is this.
“Raise the heat“
This means recognizing when work is not getting done because people are too comfortable.
In a meeting “too cold” might look like this.
- Everyone agrees
- You end early
- It seems like the meeting wasn’t really necessary
- No one has their position challenged
- Everything is “fine”
That sounds attractive doesn’t it?
Comfortable.
But, difficult and important work is probably not getting done in a meeting like that.
You need to “raise the heat”.
You need to do something, big or small, to compel people to act.
Make it more uncomfortable NOT to address an issue than to live with an issue.
Here are 3 actions you can take to raise the heat in a meeting.
3 Actions to Raise the Heat in Your Meetings
1. Say what others won’t
Name the “elephant in the room”.
My friend Chet Sears does this exceptionally well and with tact.
Chet’s turned more than a few boring, ineffective meetings into lively, productive discussions in his career.
You may know someone like that too.
Consider what they might say in a situation and say it yourself!
2. State the “temperature in the room”
Say something like this:
“It seems like we’re all getting pretty comfortable and not challenging anyone’s position. Are we really doing what we need to be doing in this meeting?”
The answers you hear may be the spark that’s needed to warm up the productivity of the group.
3. Show emotion
It’s a good thing to communicate your passion about a topic in a meeting – if you’re intentional and under control.
Tell your team you’re frustrated or disheartened with the lack of measurable progress and feel like this meeting is wasting everyone’s time.
Express your deep desire to make this an exceptional meeting!
You don’t have to be standing at the front of the room or the person who called the meeting to do take these 3 actions – anyone can lead in a meeting.
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
More ways to raise the heat in your meetings
For a deeper dive into how to take the temperature of a room and raise the heat in your meetings, go this post on my blog.
✅ Why I Disagree With Being A Thermostat Leader (click here)
The comments in this graphic give you some clues to help you determine the emotional temperature of your team or a situation you’re in.
But, this is just a start. There are even more tips and strategies in the full blog post.
The Kansas Leadership Center
I’ve received some of my best leadership training at The Kansas Leadership Center.
The KLC is an outstanding organization making a big positive impact throughout the state, country, and world from their headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.
Be sure to check out their programs and resources on their website (click here).
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors
If it’s too cold in your Project Review meetings, you need the simple, effective scorecards and dashboards in the Project Review Scorecard Toolkit.
You’ll communicate issues clearly and concisely so your teams are compelled to do the work that needs to be done to make your projects successful.
Click here to raise the heat in your Project Review meetings!
That’s All for this Issue
Like they say at the Kansas Leadership Center – “Anyone can lead. Antime. Anywhere.”
You can lead in any meeting even if you’re only a participant.
Try turning up the heat at a meeting this week and let me know how it goes!
Let’s lead our people and our meetings with kindness and confidence!
Greg
Here are 3 ways I can help you when you’re ready:
- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
- Improve on your own with digital courses (Click here to Improve)
- Accelerate your progress with coaching (Click here to Accelerate)
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