Avoid 'Death by Meetings' as an Enabling Leader

I just can't.

Deadlines are looming and the pressure to hit revenue targets is on.

And now Dave just called another 90 minute "brainstorm."

Damn meetings.

If I actually took a step back and thought about who is responsible for ensuring a well-run meeting, I might not be so quick to judge.

The default is usually to blame whoever is running the meeting to ensure that things proceed smoothly, BUT the reality is, meeting accountability should be shared. Based on insight gained from years of study of workplace dynamics, leadership, and meeting culture, explore why shared ownership between leaders and their direct reports is essential for meeting engagement and overall team success.

Why Meetings Matter for Team Success

Workplaces are dynamic and complex – an intricate combination of personalities and priorities that either work cohesively or in conflict. It is estimated that there are around one billion meetings taking place daily around the world. Data also reveals that employees spend an average of 31 hours per month in meetings so focusing on meetings to improve morale, job satisfaction, and productivity seems logical.  

Yet 75% of managers say that they’ve never received any training on meetings.

Is it any surprise that we have a meeting problem?  

Leadership vs. Followership

There are a variety of factors that impact meeting success but for now, let’s focus on accountability. While leadership is a well-known term, followership is not. There are plenty of books, podcasts, and courses available to support those trying to effectively lead but leaders are only successful if others are willing to be led by them.

In other words, you are only as good a leader as your direct reports are willing to follow.

Followership can be described as ‘the willingness to work towards accomplishing defined goals under a leader’s directives’.

Good followers are engaged, accountable, and transparent. Bringing it back to a meeting context, they actively participate, support business objectives by their actions and recommendations; and are willing to provide constructive feedback to their managers.

As leaders, how are you supporting productivity and enabling success for your team?

Fostering Feedback – the Good, Bad, and Ugly

Giving and receiving feedback is hard. Whether you are a seasoned executive or a new manager, honesty can be difficult, especially if the message being shared is constructive or critical in any way.  Add in the power dynamics often present between leaders and their direct reports, and it’s easy to understand why employees may have difficulty sharing honest feedback.  

The concept of psychological safety is critical if organizations want to create an open and collaborative culture. Think of it as a common understanding among team members so they feel empowered to take risks, express ideas and concerns, ask questions, and make mistakes without the fear of negative consequences such as judgement, rejection, or criticism.  

Imagine the out of box thinking, honesty, and buy in that could occur if team members felt safe and confident sharing concerns, asking questions, and providing input.

Leaders as Enablers: Promoting Healthy Followership

To create an environment conducive to direct reports feeling empowered and comfortable providing feedback and constructive insights, leaders can:

1. Promote a problem solving mentality: this protects against constant rework and helps foster a culture of continuous improvement. Identify problems, evaluate relevant variables, and gather follower input to determine feasible solutions.
2. Delegate: not only do competent team members fuel efficiency and overall productivity, but when managers delegate effectively, it promotes skills development and provides a sense of responsibility and accountability for business outcomes among direct reports.
3. Ensure fact-based decision making: gather data and facts to review information. This simplifies goal setting and ensures they are objective and realistic.
4. Model the behaviour you want to see: this not only helps leaders be more relatable but also helps create a stronger sense of team because expectations are consistent across the board.
5. Be truly open-minded: employees are more likely to contribute their ideas and feedback if they believe their managers value new ideas and employee perspectives.  

Enabling Leaders Leverage Followership to Set the Stage for Long Term Success:

While the concept of followership may be recent in terms of gaining focus within workplaces, it has long been studied in academia. Research also identified two additional benefits of followership:

1. It enhances followers’ commitments to organizational priorities, improving the chances of business success.
2. It helps to build the talent pool within an organization as future leaders are mentored by internal leaders within the organization, whose styles they can later match.

Looking Beyond your Direct Reports

If you want to be an effective leader, having the support of your direct reports is essential but not sufficient. Followership aside, successful leaders also understand the importance of aligning with their peers.

A recent Harvard Business Review feature highlighted five elements that are critical to the success of effective leadership teams:

1. Direction – essentially alignment on shared goals
2. Discipline – for structure and ensuring meetings are tied to business outcomes  
3. Drive - relates to resilience and the ability to address issues head on as they arise
4. Dynamism – the ability to adapt and learn as needed and without fear
5. Collaboration – welcoming all perspectives and also holding each other accountable.

Leverage Meetings for Success

Business leaders have a lot to consider, and their impact depends on how well they promote good followership, align with their peers, and produce results. Understanding your meeting culture can provide invaluable insight into all of these areas and provide a gauge for what is working well and areas for improvement.

Let’s face it, meetings are necessary. Figuring out how to maximize productivity during your meetings and getting rid of the clutter might be a challenge but we can help.

Contact Kairos to learn more about its integrated meeting platform. Gather data, gain actionable insights, and access guidance and tools to optimize your meeting culture so you can streamline efforts and accelerate business success.