Lucid Meetings Blog

Many teams endure too much time wasted in unproductive meetings. I am increasingly convinced that this is not due to a lack of knowledge.

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We are awash in information about How to plan and run productive meetings. We have centuries of useful tips and multiple professions full of people who know how to structure and lead a productive meeting to draw upon.

I believe instead that those ineffective meetings are a systemic issue. If leaders really wanted to address their meeting problems, they could - but they don't.

Something gets in the way. That something is baked into the team culture. It's the

"how things get done around here." It's a system that has no allowance for making changes to meetings.

Of course, the company handbook doesn't decree that "Thou shalt run soul-sucking meetings." If the meetings are bad and we're not talking about the meetings, then that's a shadow system. Shadow systems are full of unwritten rules, workarounds, and habits governing how people interact. Part ingenuity, part social conformity, and a whole bunch of just not looking too closely because we have other priorities right now thank you very much.

Shadow systems aren't necessarily a problem. They're only a problem when they trap us in doom loops; repeated cycles yielding negative results. And like any systemic bias that suppresses proactive change, a systemic bias towards always using PowerPoint or always sitting on mute while two people do all the talking needs to be labeled, challenged, and replaced with a system that's intentionally designed for the benefit of all.

Otto Scharmer, MIT professor and director of the Presencing Institute says:

“You cannot understand a system unless you change it. You cannot change a system unless you transform consciousness. You cannot transform consciousness unless you can make a system see and sense itself.”

So how do you see and sense the shadow system governing your meetings? To shine a light on the real reason your meetings aren't getting any better, try looking for the "Yah buts..."

Find Your Yahbuts

Here's an exercise you can try with your group to bring those out. (Thanks to Lee Gimpel for the inspiration.)

Here's what you'll see.

Everyone has an answer!

The knowledge you need exists in the room. 

Your team's answers to how they should solve their meeting challenge may not be the most awesome cutting-edge answers, but they're certainly better than what leaders are doing now.

Your group will agree that the suggestions they received would indeed lead to better meetings. So - problem solved, right?

Well yah, but...

• I don't want to make people uncomfortable.
• I don't have the authority.
• My boss was really proud of that PowerPoint template.
• I'm afraid the introverts will freak out if I call on them.
• I don't want to leave anyone out.
• I don't want to offend.
• If I take notes, they'll think I'm their secretary.
• If we share notes, people will skip out.
• If we draw, they won't take me seriously.
• If I don't know the answer, they'll think I'm incompetent.
• If it doesn't go well, they'll say I wasted their time.
• If we try to make it fun, they'll think I'm unprofessional.
• I don't know how to involve our overseas partners in that.
• I'm not sure HR will let me do that.
• That's just not how we do it around here!

Well OK then.

Given all of the above, do you think these leaders really need more tips about sending out an agenda? As I said, I don't believe that's the real issue here.

We do not suffer from a knowledge gap. We have a knowing/doing gap.

Something - the shadow system - gets in the way of our doing. Each "Yahbut" hints at a part of that shadow system.

Comments like these indicate a system where leaders have not made it obvious and socially acceptable for people to change how they meet if what they're doing now isn't working.

• I don't want to make people uncomfortable.
• I don't have the authority.
• My boss was really proud of that PowerPoint template.
• I don't want to offend.

These indicate a system that lacks clear expectations for participation, transparency, and accountability.

• I'm afraid the introverts will freak out if I call on them.
• I don't want to leave anyone out.
• If we share notes, people will skip out.

These indicate a system where people lack meeting and collaboration skills.

• If I take notes, they'll think I'm their secretary.
• I don't know how to involve our overseas partners in that.

These indicate a system (or leader) that's intolerant of error, closed to safe experimentation, and prioritizing internal politics over performance.

• If we draw, they won't take me seriously.
• If I don't know the answer, they'll think I'm incompetent.
• If it doesn't go well, they'll say I wasted their time.
• If we try to make it fun, they'll think I'm unprofessional.
• I'm not sure HR will let me do that.
• That's just not how we do it around here.

To aid your team, shine your light into these shadows. Focus on blowing away the dark clouds obscuring your path forward.

Curious about exactly what people believe they should be doing, even if they don't always do it?  Take this short survey and enter your email address to be notified when we share the results.

Your leaders already know a lot of what they should do. Your best results will come when you create a system that gives them the permission and structure they need to do it.

Want help creating your meeting operating system? We'd love to work with you.