Clearview® Performance Systems brings you ... ® ... a Culture of Results & Engagement®
Here's the next in our series of weekly managerial TIPS (Techniques, Insights, and Practical Solutions)
to help you better engage your team in the activities that lead to higher performance.
CORE Bites Issue #68
Many leaders are very effective at leading and actively participating in team meetings ... when the meetings are in-person. However, now that everyone's been forced to operate remotely, many of these same leaders struggle to retain the same level of interconnectedness they previously enjoyed. In an attempt to stay connected with their respective teams, many have turned to telephone conferencing ... and it hasn't been pretty!
Before I delve into some refreshing ideas for you, let's start with a quick tally of the benefits that can be derived from in-person meetings with our teams:
Acknowledging all of the benefits listed above, please let me ask you a critical (but probably rhetorical) question:
"Do you think a simple telephone call will give you that same level of interaction?"
Not a chance!
A basic telephone conference call is a poor replacement for an in-person meeting because we're hardwired to understand the ebb and flow and nuances of a conversation. That's why conference calls sound more like talking on walkie-talkies: "Hey Sally, I need that budget information"—chirp—"Okay, I’ll send it right over"—chirp. To prove my point, we've all stumbled over another person's words when we thought they were done talking. "You go ahead ...". "No, you go ...".
I know you're laughing right now, but—sadly—these types of conversations are taking place every day!
In this issue of CORE Bites, I'd like to introduce you to the concept of 'fusion' meetings. By 'fusion' I mean the artistry of combining two (or more) interactive components/tools seamlessly into a team conference call to emulate (possibly even replicate) the engagement, participation, collaboration, and communication effectiveness of an in-person meeting.
But before you jump to the conclusion that I'm referring to videoconferencing ... not so fast! While videoconferencing may be a viable option in certain situations (and for some groups), I'm dedicating this entire issue to practical ideas that will breathe extra life into your team telephone conference meetings ... and fully engage your people in the topic of discussion.
To use the tools I'm going to describe below, you will be using whatever videoconferencing platform your organization subscribes to, however, you will NOT be using the screen sharing and/or the video elements. In essence, you'll be setting up a video conference meeting but in the settings you will a) turn off the video feature and b) mute all attendees (this can be set to be your default).
You will also want to make sure all of your employees are listed in your videoconferencing contact list so when they dial in/login they will be identified making it easy for you to unmute them when required. It's also advantageous for each employee to have the videoconferencing mobile app installed so they can remote in from anyway and use the features described below. An added benefit of using this approach is you can record the entire meeting for anyone who may be unable to attend.
When your telephone conference meeting begins, everyone (except you) will be muted. This eliminates the annoying 'dings' and distractions when people are arriving late. This will also serve to condition people to the fact that you will be starting your meetings on time (and not ... "We'll wait a few more minutes for everyone to dial in.").
Here are the tools that can dramatically improve engagement during your telephone conference calls. [Hint: Combine them in a creative way to keep things interesting.]
These features are very powerful and can help make your next telephone conference call much more engaging and interesting. The key is becoming familiar with the technology—like anything else new, if it's unfamiliar it can also be uncomfortable (or seem complicated). Based on my own personal experiences, the features I described above are actually pretty simple; have some fun practicing before your next meeting—you'll appreciate the difference they make!
I'd love to hear how these HVAs work for you!
Neil Dempster, PhD, MBA
RESULTant™ and Behavioral Engineer
"If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new!"
— Jeff Bezos —