There are many kinds of conversations: light, heavy, serious, humorous, conflictive, superfluous, gossipy. . . you name it! As a leader you need to be able to understand more and utilize the power of dialogue. Meetings are much more effective when you can have open and powerful conversations.
What do you see when you walk into a meeting in your organization? If your organization is like others I have visited, you might see:
- People who are thinking about what to say next instead of listening.
- People eagerly seizing on someone else’s words purely as the excuse for talking themselves.
- People talking a lot and saying little.
- People talking over each other.
- Bad decisions made because there was not enough room for offering and listening to different view points.
- No one is truly listening.
- No one is open to persuasion.
- Many times people with open mouths and tightly shut minds.
When you learn to understand and utilize the power of dialogue in your meetings, you will have a totally different picture. In a conversational circle there is personal contact. It’s the meeting of minds in a mutual search for what life and work are about and how we should deal with both. It’s approaching others with an open mind and ready sympathy for their concerns, not just your own.
When people converse, a change of opinion is always possible. In meetings where there is dialogue, people make meaning together and wise decisions are made, because there is room for diversity of opinions. The end result is much better because what emerges is powerful and everybody is proud of what they created together.
In a meeting I was facilitating we were talking about guidelines for a powerful conversational circle and my friend Paula Hansen, one of my favorite visual recorders, developed this visual for the guidelines. It provides an easy way to remember how to have a powerful conversation.
How did your last meeting go? Did you get done what you needed to accomplish? Do you know how to harness the power of conversation for more effective meetings? I can help you understand and learn to facilitate meetings that take less time, are more productive. I can facilitate your meeting to give you a clear plan of action that everybody is on board with. I can also teach you how to do the same. To find out how I can help you, contact me today!
Visual by Paula Hansen Photo by: Baltic Development Forum