Want Serious Meetings? Hand Out Toys!

There is much more to people -- even serious businesspeople -- than what's above the neck. We are not just intellects that come together to interact with other intellects. The more you involve the whole person in your meetings, the more people will learn, and the more of that learning they will retain. If you want people to work together effectively, let them play together.

That's why I think there is so much value in having kinetic stuff in meeting rooms: squeeze balls, Slinkies, little gizmos that you turn over and play with. Every so often, just go into a toy store, blow $20 on junk, and put all of it in your conference room. Toys are a great stress reliever -- and a great creativity enhancer. I've found that when people have something to play with, when they can get more of their body involved in what they're doing, they become more creative.

I'm famous around here for my bag of meeting toys. It comes in handy. Last summer, for example, I was working with a group of senior executives. The first thing I did when I started off the meeting was to give everybody two toys: a Meeting Network mouse pad and a Meeting Network squeeze ball. The executives played with this stuff throughout the meeting. It was great: One person would say something that another person didn't like, and the second person would throw a ball across the table. Everyone at the meeting had lots of fun.

And these were senior executives, by the way -- people who are not given to playing at work. A week later, I was in the same room, sitting in as an observer for someone who was presenting to the same group. The executives came in and sat around their table, and as the meeting was about to start, one guy said, "Wait a minute. We can't start yet." Then he ran out -- and came back a few minutes later with his squeeze ball!

Even Good Meetings Can Get Better

If you're serious about improving the quality of your meetings, then you should borrow an idea from the quality people: continuous improvement. Set aside five minutes at the end of every meeting you hold -- make it a discipline for your team or your company -- and ask some simple questions: What did we do in this meeting that really worked well? What happened that we never want to repeat? Are there bad habits that we seem to keep falling into?

Write down people's answers, keep a running record of their comments, and then see how well the entire group improves over time. A written record can also be a great source of ideas for future rules of engagement. It can tell you not just how to behave, but why people believe it's important to behave that way.

But don't overdo this. The best medicine in the world can make you sick if you take too much of it. If you become too intent on improving meetings, you're likely to become the most dreaded person in your department: "Oh no, Joe's in this meeting. What's he gonna come up with this time?" So, please, use these ideas and practices, but use them wisely.

Meeting Minutes

• One classic meeting dilemma is deciding how much to record. Michael Begeman's proposal: Don't worry too much about taking detailed minutes -- that is, exhaustive notes about who said what. Focus instead on three categories of information: decisions reached, action items that people need to follow up on, and open issues. "The record of all this becomes input for future meetings," says Begeman. "Plus, encouraging people to use these categories will sharpen the quality of their participation."
• Actions speak louder than rules. Leaders send nonverbal as well as verbal messages. So it's quite possible, says Michael Begeman, for your words to abide by the "rules of engagement" for a meeting, while your informal actions don't. If you're leading a meeting and people expect you to move the group toward a decision, then act accordingly. Sit at the head of the table to signal, "I'm in charge." Stand while others are sitting to signal, "I have the floor." If participants expect a collaborative meeting, ask one of your team members to run the meeting -- to signal, "I want to share leadership." Or to signal, "I'm with you," sit on one side of the table. All of this may sound obvious, but it's amazing how small, nonverbal behaviors can undermine -- or promote -- what you are trying to accomplish.

Associate Editor Gina Imperato (gimperato@fastcompany.com) has learned to love meetings. You can contact Michael Begeman by email (mlbegeman@mmm.com) or learn more about the 3M Meeting Network on the Web (www.3m.com/meetingnetwork).