Most of us spend more time than we might like in meetings that don’t get to the heart of issues. There are many ways, however, to energize those dull gatherings. One of my favorites, is a think-write-share approach to brainstorming.
Typical team discussions tend to benefit the most talkative and most confident, regardless of whether or not those team members have the best available information or ideas. If you want to get everyone on the team more involved in discussions and consider a broader range of solutions, recognize that there is value in pausing to think first, especially when our instinct is to jump to problem solving and not necessarily listen to others’ ideas.
Here’s how think-write-share works:
- Define a challenge or a specific question for the team to consider where creative thinking and fresh ideas would be helpful.
- Before you ask the question, pass out 3×5 cards or sheets of paper and tell them that you will be asking them to write on what you have handed out. (This helps reduce the temptation to guess who wrote what….more on that in a moment.)
- Tell the team that you’re going to ask a question and want them to purposefully pause. Don’t jump into sharing or discussion and don’t start writing immediately. Just sit and think about the question you ask for at least 60 seconds. You’ll tell them when time is up.
- After 1 minute has passed, restate the question and ask them to write down their answers IN BLOCK LETTERS. (This is also a tool to reduce wasted time trying to figure out who said what.) It is okay if people edit their thinking as they write. In fact, perhaps it should be encouraged!
- As they finish their response, pass in the cards/paper to you.
- You shuffle the cards/paper and redistribute. Tell the team, “Maybe you’ll get someone else’s card/paper, maybe you’ll get your own (and don’t say so if you do). Whatever answer you receive, you will read. We’ll hear from everyone before we discuss.”
- Then go around the room and listen as each statement/idea/response is read. You may want to capture these on flipcharts or elsewhere for later discussion.
- After all responses have been read, revisit and/or discuss as appropriate, asking the group questions such as ‘Which idea(s) really jumped out at you?’ or ‘What did you find most surprising?’
This practice is terrific for increasing critical thinking AND diversity of thought. It decouples suggestions from the source, reducing inherent biases that people have about their colleagues’ thinking. It also improves the likelihood that all voices on the team will be heard.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. Good luck on your leadership journey!
#courageousclarity #leadershipdevelopment #brainstorming #bettermeetings
For more ways to energize team meetings, check out this article from MIT Sloan Management Review: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/four-ways-to-energize-your-dull-team-meetings/
Originally posted on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-steps-energize-team-discussions-phyllis-sarkaria-jywsc/