One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
Workplace anxiety is at an all-time high.
Provide this 1 thing in your meetings to make the problem better not worse.
Give the people in your meetings CLARITY.
Anxiety is fueled by confusion.
And, most meetings do little to reduce confusion.
In fact, too many meetings introduce MORE chaos and uncertainty.
Here’s a fictional scenario as an example:
A meeting scenario that creates workplace anxiety
During a meeting a business leader wants an update on an issue because they’re worried about a customer complaint they’ve heard about.
It seems to them that it’s a disaster, a crisis, a sky-is-falling situation!
And, their anxiety is ramping up fast.
They share that a person on their team told them there was an email they heard about from a customer who was NOT happy.
Others in the meeting can’t help themselves from adding the stress-boosting phrase:
“It’s actually much worse than that. Let me tell you what I heard.”
Everyone there eagerly chimes in and the time flies by.
The meeting ends and not a person missed their chance to add what they thought they knew about this alleged problem and how bad it is.
But no one feels any better.
In fact, everyone feels worse – much worse.
They’re more anxious than when they arrived.
Has this fictional scenario example ever happened in your business?
You don’t need to answer that question, but I do suggest you do this.
Make your meetings different, make them better – using clarity.
How clarity in your meetings will reduce workplace anxiety
Bring clarity when discussing problems in your business.
👉 Clearly communicate these things:
✅ The actual problem to be addressed – based on facts not hearsay
✅ The specific person or team who is addressing this problem
✅ Exact actions the owner is taking
✅ A detailed schedule with dates
✅ Clear measures of success
✅ Honest progress reports
✅ Reality – not rumors
✅ Confidence
✅ Calmness
The last two items may have surprised you.
Surprising results of clarity in a meeting
Confidence and calmness are the natural results of dealing with problems in your meetings based on facts and details that provide clarity.
Clarity drives out confusion and increases your confidence.
You then share that confidence with those in your meeting.
That confidence brings calmness.
And reduced anxiety.
Introduce clarity in your meetings and watch the workplace anxiety level in your company drop dramatically.
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
Meetings aren’t the only sources of workplace anxiety of course.
I found it fascinating to learn that digital communication can be a significant source of workplace anxiety too.
A conversation between Erica Dhawan, author of the book Digital Body Language, How to Build Trust & Connection No Matter the Distance, and Dave Stachowiak on Dave’s Coaching for Leaders podcast was my first introduction to this idea. You can listen to it here:
✅ “Where You May Be Provoking Anxiety, with Erica Dhawan”
On my website, I built on this podcast episode and shared my own thoughts focusing on how to improve your email skills – not just to reduce workplace anxiety but to be more effective as a leader.
✅ “How To Take Your Email Skills To The Next Level”
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That’s All for this Issue
You can’t eliminate all workplace anxiety, but you can keep from making work more stressful for you and your coworkers.
The more clarity you include in your meetings, the more confident and calm you’ll be.
Your calmness will be contagious and you’ll help others be less anxious.
And, that’s leadership that makes a positive impact on people’s lives.
Let’s lead 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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