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The group seems too focused on reaching a decision. It might not seem like it’s really a problem for a group to be too focused on pursuing decisions. However, whether the impetus is general impatience, or a dominant participant, or a feeling of pressure to “just do something,” this focus on making a decision usually causes tunnel vision.

If the facilitator senses that the group is feeling “action attraction,” he or she should emphasize the process, that the group should discuss issues thoroughly before moving into a decision.

There are other suggestions below, for groupthink and for dealing with dominant personalities.

Taken From : The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings

Not focusing appropriately on the issues can be another reason people tend to avoid meetings. Let’s look at some of the problems in this area and what to do about them.

Too Little Focus

A participant is talking around the issue, not making his or her point. The facilitator should not single out any particular participant: that reaction could embarrass the person in question and have a chilling
effect on participation by others in the group.

The facilitator should wait until he or she is opening the next discussion, and then request that  participants try to communicate concisely. He or she should remind them of the time allotted to the discussion and suggest that each contribution be limited to about two minutes.
That doesn’t mean that the timekeeper will necessarily need to clock the contributions, but the facil-itator should signal-tactfully-any participant who obviously exceeds the limit.

A participant starts getting into another, unrelated issue. The easiest way for the facilitator to handle the situation is simply to say, “We’re getting away from the agenda now. Maybe this issue should be set aside for another meeting.” Then the group can decide later whether or not to put the issue on an agenda
in the future.

The facilitator could also turn the digression over to the group, by asking for reactions: “Who would like to relate these comments to our discussion?” If others can find connections, then the comments may not be really a digression. If not, then at least the digressive party has had a chance to shift the discussion,
although not gaining support from the rest of the group.
If the discussion doesn’t shift, the facilitator should return to the agenda item. If the digression has taken the group away from the agenda for a while, he or she should summarize the discussion or at least the most recent contributions in order to get the group back on track.

If the facilitator can’t remember where the discussion was going before it veered off the track, he or she should ask members of the group to reconstruct the discussion. This approach can be a good way to encourage participation and recover momentum.

Participants are all going off on a tangent together. The facilitator should gesture toward the agenda (if displayed) or otherwise remind the group of the agenda item under consideration. He or she could then ask if there would be enough interest in the tangent to put it on the agenda for another meeting. If a show of hands indicates sufficient interest, consider scheduling it for an upcoming meeting. If you’re unsure that it merits any consideration, you can e-mail participants and solicit their thoughts on the
topic. It may be that you’re missing something-or it may be that a lack of response will show that the tangent was interesting only at the moment and not worth any meeting time.

Participants are all going off in different directions at the same time. Here again, the facilitator should point to the agenda (if displayed) or otherwise remind the group of the agenda item under consideration. He or she should then invite the participants to submit their tangents to you for possible inclusion in a
future meeting.

Then the facilitator should direct the discussion back on track, by reminding the group about the agenda item and the purpose: “We’ve strayed off the track a little from discussing ____ and trying to reach a decision about ____.” Then he or she should turn to the notes kept on display by the scribe and review the last few relevant points.

Another possibility is for the facilitator to explore the reasons for the tangents: “It’s been difficult for us to discuss this issue.
Why?”

Taken From : The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings

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Participants are talking among themselves. Not all side conversations are bad. Sometimes they can serve the same purpose as breaking up the group into twos and threes: they allow members of the group to express themselves less publicly. If there are several side conversations going, the facilitator could suggest that the other members form clusters, too. Then he or she should put a question or two on display for the clusters to discuss. If the facilitator asks each cluster to sum up its discussion and conclusions on a sheet of paper or index card, it should help focus chatters on the agenda item.

OK, that’s how side conversations can be good. In general, however, they’re distracting and annoying. There are some things that the facilitator can do to discourage chats:

• If seated, stand.
• Try to create eye contact with the chatters.
• Walk around the room, slowly, and then stand near the chatters, for as long as it takes.

• Talk louder.

• Tap on the table to call for order.

• Say that you are distracted by multiple conversations and ask to limit talking to the discussion.

• Call on the chatters by name to invite them to contribute.

It Takes All Kinds
It’s important for a manager or a facilitator to keep in mind that a meeting is work and that people work in various ways.The facilitator  should exercise judgment and discretion in governing this micro society.The sidebar,”The Psychological Dynamics of Teamwork,” presents one way to better understand the members of your group.

The Psychological Dynamics of Teamwork
Problems with participation may be a factor of personality types.To facilitate interactions more effectively and efficiently, the facilitator should understand the basics of team player styles.

Glenn M. Parker explored this aspect of personality in his book, Team Players and Teamwork:The New Competitive Business Strategy (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996). His research revealed that there are four team player styles that are essential to the success of any team.We all have characteristics of each style, to a greater or lesser extent, but each of us has a dominant style.
Contributor: Provides information and focuses the group on thetask at hand.
Positive characteristics: dependable, responsible, organized, efficient, logical, clear, relevant, pragmatic, systematic Negative characteristics: shortsighted, compulsive, hung up on facts, uncreative, perfectionist  Collaborator: Provides a sense of direction, gets the group to set goals, and emphasizes overall purpose.
Positive characteristics: cooperative, flexible, confident, focused on the future, conceptual, accommodating, generous, open, visionary, imaginative Negative characteristics: overly committed, overly involved, too global, overly ambitious, insensitive Communicator: Attends to “people issues” and helps the group address matters of process.
Positive characteristics: supportive, encouraging, relaxed, informal,spontaneous, helpful, friendly, patient, considerate, tactful Negative characteristics: aimless, foolish, placating, impractical, manipulative Challenger: Encourages the group to question its methods and goals, asks tough questions, and pushes the team to take reasonable risks.
Positive characteristics: candid, questioning, outspoken, straightforward,  ethical, honest, truthful, principled, adventurous, brave

Negative characteristics: rigid, arrogant, self-righteous, contentious,
quibbling

Taken From : The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings

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Too many people are talking at once. The facilitator should thank them for their enthusiasm, but then remind them that good contributions can be lost if more than one person is talking at any one time and that the confusion can keep some people out of the discussion.

If appropriate, the facilitator can direct traffic, by pointing to individuals, one at a time, to givethem the floor. The facilitator can also suggest going around the group for comments, to establish a “natural”  sequence of contributions. There’s no reason to go formal-”The chair recognizes …”-but just to direct  the vehicles of thought a little to avoid traffic jams.

Someone keeps bringing up the same point. Often, what motivates people to repeat a point is that they think others don’t understand them. The facilitator should summarize the person’s statement to make sure that all understand.

If the person continues to repeat the point, the facilitator can indicate the flipchart or other display where the scribe has already recorded that idea: “We’ve already got that point here. Are you offering any additional support for it or any new perspectives?”

He or she then invites others to contribute, to assume responsibility for the meeting. This tactic encourages contributions from the other members and emphasizes that all members of the group are responsible for the meeting-and conveys the message that nobody should monopolize the discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

This problem may be similar to the preceding problem of participants being inattentive and uninvolved, depending on the cause(s). That’s a judgment call for the facilitator and for you. Is the meeting uninteresting? Is it unchallenging? Is it boring? If it seems that the silence is due to any of these factors, the facilitator should try the recommendations above.

However, participants may remain silent because they haven’t prepared sufficiently for the meeting. If the facilitator suspects that this is the reason, he or she should ask them questionsthat don’t require any preparation, just thinking, such as to comment on contributions by others. In other words, don’t punish
them or exclude them, but find ways for them to contribute.

Maybe, on the other hand, the silence is due to personality and/or group dynamics: some people are usually quiet around others, while some are quiet only in certain situations. An instinctive reaction for the facilitator might be to call on a quiet person to contribute. That tactic is often not very effective-and
it can cause other quiet members of the group to resent the facilitator. A more effectivetactic might be to circle the group for comments, allowing individuals to pass when it’s their turn. It’s about  opportunities, not obligations.

This tactic can be particularly effective if the facilitator can select individuals because of their special expertise, experience, or interests; e.g.,”Adriana, I believe thatyou’ve worked with this issue in the past. Would you like to share anything you’ve learned from that?”

Finally, if there’s enough time and space, the facilitator could also break the group into twos and threes  to discuss the issue and report back to the group.

The group is generally not participating much. The facilitator could either try to guess at the reason(s)  for the lack of involvement- or just ask! There may be an issue that the group should address before continuing. It could take a change in the agenda or a short break.

But what if there are no specific reasons or, at least, no reasons that the group can address? Then, the facilitator could break the group into twos and threes and give them some challenging questions, to provoke them to think, or try one of the techniques described in Chapter 6.

You should also analyze the situation. Maybe the time is wrong, such as immediately after lunch, first thing Monday morning, or late on a Friday afternoon. If you’re providing refreshments, maybe that’s part of the problem: rich foods can undermine participation, so fruits and vegetables might improve participation for future meetings. Again, rather than just guess, you might try asking; when the members of the group do their evaluation at the end of the meeting, add a question or two about why there’s so little participation and what could be done to increase it.

Taken From : The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings

Problems that occur in the interaction between people at the meeting are common and can be quite vexing and an important reason people don’t like meetings. Here’s how to anticipate and deal with some of the problems you’ll likely encounter.

Confusion

Participants seem to be confused. The facilitator should ask them why they’re confused. If it’s because they don’t understand the purpose of the meeting and/or the agenda, the facilitator should review the
purpose and the agenda.

If it’s because they haven’t read the agenda in advance and are not prepared, take note and make a point of providing more details in your agendas and even indicating how you expect participants to prepare for the meetings.

Weak Participation

Participants are apparently thinking about other things or even dozing off. This is a tough situation, because there could be various reasons. Are they disinterested in the agenda? Do they feel that the meeting isn’t challenging them? Are they just bored with the pace and/or the tone?

If they’re disinterested, it may be because they feel there’s little or no need for them to be attending the meeting or at least all of it. Find out. If so and they’re right, then think more carefully about the people you’re including in meetings.

If they’re not interested because the meeting isn’t addressing any issues that matter to them, at the end of the meeting the facilitator should encourage them to suggest items for the agendas of upcoming meetings.

If the meeting isn’t challenging them, there’s a remedy for the moment and a remedy for later. The facilitator can involve them with questions, calling on them by name. If this problem develops over more than one meeting, you can try another tactic:
assign the individuals responsibility for providing information  or even leading the discussion of an agenda item. This approach has two major benefits:

• The individuals will not be inattentive for the entire meeting, because they will be in the spotlight for at least a little while.

• The individuals will better appreciate the greater difficulty of conducting a meeting when members of the group don’t get involved.

If they’re bored, find out why. Meetings should inspire participants with a sense of purpose, with  enthusiasm about achieving goals. The problem could be, in part, with the agenda-the items and/or the format. How did the meeting begin? There should be positive energy from the start: participants should feel that they are gathered to collaborate and accomplish. How is the facilitator conducting the meeting? As mentioned in Chapter 4, the facilitator should set and maintain an appropriate pace. If you suspect that the problem may be, to some extent, with the facilitator, you may want to prepare the facilitator a little better. You might also think more carefully about the time allocations on the agenda.

Lend a Hand

If a facilitator is not maintaining a suitable pace and participants are showing signs of boredom or impatience, you might want to help him or her by sending a subtle signal to pick up the pace. If the facilitator is moving too quickly, so participants are having trouble contributing or maybe even following, a signal should make him or her aware of the problem.
If pacing is a consistent problem and involves more than one or two facilitators, the problem could be in the agenda. It may be that you need to allocate time more appropriately.

There’s another tactic when participants aren’t paying attention or getting involved, but it’s risky. Bring “toys” to the meeting. Some people listen better when they have something like play dough to work with during the meeting. However, if the lack of attention and involvement is because the meeting doesn’t
seem important to those members of the group, then you need to address the purpose of the meeting.

Taken From : The Manager’s Guide to Effective Meetings

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