The Scourge of Meetings: Flawed Decisions

Most of us have been in meetings where the attendees reached a consensus, even though some secretly thought the decision was a bad idea. These are the people who nod yes when asked if they agree, but their brains are screaming no, no, no.

Some people are just afraid to buck the group with a dissenting view. But it’s just as common that the meeting environment itself causes people to keep their mouths shut. And that can lead to flawed decisions that require substantial effort to unravel later.

You can use three tactics to transform any meeting into an effective forum for making sound decisions.

First, invite criticism. In most meetings, people tolerate a vocal naysayer–at least for a while. Eventually, though, a lone critic is branded as an impediment, and gets marginalized by the group.

Avoid this trap by including people in the meeting with diverse points of view, interests, and roles in the organization. Ask relevant experts to attend parts of the meeting to offer their perspectives. Let people know that it’s not only OK to have some confrontation as the group evaluates a decision, but that you expect it. And make sure the group addresses any reasonable objections.

Next, create an environment that encourages all attendees to speak their minds. Some meeting facilitators make a point of asking each participant to offer views on a question. You might want to ask first for opinions from the least senior members of the group; that can counter any bias that higher-ups introduce if they speak first.

Finally, make the actual decision in a smaller group setting. After you’ve gathered the facts and ideas, select some people from the group who’ve worked well together and made good decisions in the past. Choose individuals with the right expertise to decide on the question at hand; they should also be able to depersonalize the debate and unite behind a decision once the group chooses its path.

Lots of people believe that they attend too many time-wasting meetings. That belief is part of the reason that so many meetings fall short of their objectives. With a few adjustments, you can bypass the mind-numbing groupthink exercises and make your meetings both dynamic and productive.