Many people will write (or just whine) about how much that workplace standard of communication called The Meeting annoys them. Not me. I love meetings, for in the right hands they are Kākou kinds of events— that’s right; wow-factor kind of events.
Meetings are made for Kākou Messages — creating them, sharing them, reinventing them, celebrating their results and simply savoring what they mean to a company culture.
Spanky and Our Gang had cool Club Meetings...
Meetings are also superbly efficient: They are made for the Kākou talk-story that is best done in groups and with entire teams.
They are huddles where beyond the very pragmatic logic of giving several people the same message at the same time, you evoke the power of “We” in the interpretation of that message.
When meetings are held well, you can really engineer a dramatic turnaround in the allover effectiveness of communication and productivity, because people feel they have a predictable, reliable and valuable way to bank the knowledge currency they need for all subsequent work — meetings are then thought of as musts; you attend them to make your deposit, and to get your was-saved-for-now withdrawal.
Yet I do know why we love to complain about meetings too; bad examples run rampant. “In the right hands” and “when held well” are really the defining phrases, aren’t they. In the hands of aloha values, The Meeting gets a boost in popularity when it becomes a Lōkahi Team Huddle with a Kākou Message and deliberate, provocative Language of Intention. (Whoa ... you didn’t need to take those links, huh! Didn’t realize how good you’ve gotten in my MWA-speak, did you!)
New word for an old standby: Think “Huddle” instead of “Meeting”
There are a ton of other Kākou messages that are silently implicit in addition to the explicit ones spoken of in a Team Huddle. For instance, if the assumption in the organizational culture is that “the right people always attend our meetings, prepared to engage” these are some of the implicit messages that are reinforced every single time a meeting is held:
Think of huddle as in that sports huddle of a game, where communication happens in short, extremely focused moments of opportunity — defining moments, before game-shaping plays: So much in known but not said in the silently implicit messages to all players — there is no need to!
Let’s huddle up.
You’re part of this team for good reason, and
You’re part of this huddle for good reason— the time to perform is now.
No one else is playing your position, so listen up.
We only have so much time to huddle, and
What we say within our huddle is crucial. It makes a difference.
This stuff is knowledge. It’s important. It’s good. When we all know it, we’re all better.
This will help us win, or score in a really big way.
Good thing you’re here.
The rest of us are counting on you to help us execute the entire play.
We need you. We value you. We can’t do this without you.
Hey, we’re here for you too, you know. We’ll do our part too.
All of us together, we can do this, and we will succeed.
Huddles are generous because players are acknowledged, valued, and trusted. It’s a generosity they thrive on.
If you’re a player on the sidelines, chances are you are aching inside for the coach to look your way and send you out on the field to join in.
Heck, everyone understands how vitally important those kinds of huddles are.
Meetings are like that where you work, right?
At minimum, they can be like that when you are the one running them, right? It just takes one person to decide they will lead with Kākou … will it be you?
I have an idea: Start with this as your Kākou message: “No more meetings. From now on, we have Huddles.” Then, talk about it.
Connecting back to an earlier article ... remember this?
Leaders will ask me, “If I want to create a more vibrant organizational culture, where should I start?” and my short answer is, “With your habits.” Organizational culture is made healthier one habit at a time. The deliverable of good productivity practices, are great habits.
Connection ~ The Team Huddle is a great new Habit.
Read more, at MWA3P: Part Three – How Organizational Culture Happens
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