Category Archives: Teamwork
February 8, 2023 5 Ways to Avoid Meeting Drift
Picture yourself leading (another) Zoom meeting. You’re meeting with your usual team, and you have a rough agenda, but soon things get derailed. Someone mentions that their kids have been sick, and soon everyone’s sharing stories of family illness. This topics leads to a conversation about company policies and sick leave, which then leads to a chat about upcoming vacations. By the time you get back on track, you’ve lost your main point and everyone seems unfocused and unexcited to talk about work-related topics. You’ve lost any initial momentum your meeting had.
If this scenario sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone. “Meeting drift” is a common issue during meetings—virtual or otherwise—and can be extremely frustrating and counterproductive.
To help combat meeting drift, try following these five tips:
Stick to the Agenda.
Ensure that your agenda is concise and that everyone is familiar with it before the meeting starts. Before every meeting, take a few minutes to review the agenda with your team. Make sure everyone understands the topics up for discussion and the intended outcomes of the meeting. During the meeting, gently remind your team of the agenda and try to stay on-topic by summarizing each point before moving on
Start with a Brief Check-In
If your team is distracted by personal issues, their focus is more likely to drift during meetings. Kick off your meeting with a simple check-in question such as, “Julia, what did you do for fun this past weekend?” Or, “Will anyone be out of the office this week?” Make sure to limit the check-in time to 2-3 minutes, otherwise this can lead to an entirely new conversation.
Rotate Meeting Leads
Enlist help to keep the meeting on track by rotating the leadership role. This can help ensure everyone is engaged and can keep the conversation moving. When someone else is leading the meeting, you’ll be better able to recognize when the conversation is straying off-topic
Be Mindful of the Time
It’s easy to forget how long you’ve been talking when everyone is sharing their favorite vacation spot, and you find yourself reminiscing about your last beach trip. Set an alarm for yourself (or a timer for everyone) to keep your meeting on track and on time.
Encourage Participants to Take Notes
Writing notes by hand has a number of benefits, including better retention of the material being discussed and improved focus. Encourage your team to take notes every time you meet. As an added incentive, you might even gift each team member a quality notebook and pen at the beginning of the year (or quarter).
The key to avoiding meeting drift is to stay on top of it and be mindful of your team’s focus. By sticking to an agenda, providing brief check-ins, rotating meeting leads, staying conscious of the time, and encouraging participants to take notes, you’ll be able to ensure that meetings stay productive and meaningful.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS® DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, AND FOUNDER OF UXL. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE.
HER NEW EBOOK IS CALLED A QUICK GUIDE TO COURAGE.
Tags: avoid meeting drift, margaret smith career coach, margaret smith leadership, prevent drift during workplace meetings, prevent drift during Zoom meetings, stay focused during Zoom meetings
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- Posted under Communication, Leadership, Teamwork
October 26, 2022 3 Steps to Deal with Negative Feedback
No one likes to receive negative feedback. We’d all like to skate through life and have people tell us, “That was perfect! No changes necessary.” Or, “I love your ideas. Let’s adopt every single one of them.” Or, “Your report was impeccable. Don’t change a thing.”
If only.
The truth is, you will receive negative feedback at times, whether in a meeting, during an annual review, or from co-workers (in a more casual sense). Negative feedback can sting. You might feel defensive, you may dread the work that the feedback might create, or you might even feel some animosity toward the person who delivered the critique.
Those feelings are normal, and you can work through them. Let’s talk about 3 ways to deal with negative feedback.
1. Delay Your Reaction
When you or your work is criticized, your kneejerk reaction may be to bite back. You might say something snappy, blow off the criticism, or even attack the speaker. None of these are productive responses, and they may end up damaging relationships or your reputation.
Instead, take time to internalize the criticism. You might ask a clarifying question or two (or gently correct something the speaker misstated), but do your best to not be defensive. Even if you don’t entirely agree with the feedback, there may be a kernel of truth in it. Let your anger or disappointment subside before you respond.
2. Examine the Heart of the Feedback
How often do you latch onto a criticism, even when someone has given you several compliments? When dealing with negative feedback, sit down and think about everything that was said. Was the negative component the most important part of the feedback? Or simply the part that stuck with you?
Even if the negative portion of the feedback wasn’t the central focus, it’s worth addressing it. Now that you’re in a more neutral state (hopefully!), consider ways to course correct. Will this be a major undertaking? Will it involve other people or various resources? Start planning, but don’t get too far until you do Step 3…
3. Circle Back to the Critiquer
After you’ve had some time to digest the negative feedback, it’s a good idea to reach out to the person who delivered it. It could be that they didn’t state their case clearly, were confused, or overstated the problem. Or maybe they meant every word of their critique.
Whatever the case, I encourage you to contact this person and address their criticism head-on. You might start the conversation like this:
“I’ve been giving what you said about X a lot of thought, and I want to ask you some clarifying questions before diving in to make corrections. Can we chat?”
If they agree to talk, keep things civil and professional. You should have a genuine desire to make things better and improve! The goal of this conversation is to capture more information AND demonstrate to the other person that you hear them, respect their opinion, and are willing to put in the leg work to make things right.
No one loves negative feedback, but we can all learn from it. At times, this feedback may be exaggerated or just plain wrong, but don’t dismiss it outright. We can learn from others’ thoughts and perspectives, and it’s helpful to keep a humble, always-improving attitude. Besides, the more you deal with criticism, the easier it will be to take it.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS® DISCOVERY (AND DEEPER DISCOVERY) LICENSED PRACTITIONER, AND FOUNDER OF UXL. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE.
HER NEW EBOOK IS CALLED A QUICK GUIDE TO COURAGE.
Tags: deal with negative feedback, dealing with criticisms at work, dealing with workplace feedback, margaret smith career coach, Margaret Smith coaching, steps for coping with negative feedback
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- Posted under Communication, Teamwork, Thrive at Work
September 21, 2022 The Case for Uplifting (Instead of Competing with) Your Co-Workers
The business world can be cutthroat at times. For years, I worked with sales teams at 3M, leading people whose pay and reputation relied on their sales performance. With competitions and high expectations driving them, the sales professionals felt quite a bit of pressure to outshine others.
Fortunately, I worked with congenial groups of people who did not throw others under the bus, but usually functioned as a cohesive unit. Other teams, I know, are not so fortunate. Some will do whatever it takes to gain a promotion, win a competition, or make themselves look better than their colleagues. And this isn’t just limited to sales teams—this level of competitiveness can be found in all industries, at all levels of the company. Whenever there is something to be gained by trampling others, people will, unfortunately, do it.
This type of ruthless competitiveness can create an atmosphere of tension and distrust. People are constantly watching their backs, and are hesitant to open up to co-workers or leaders. Additionally, when competitiveness reigns, there is little room for non-performance-based initiatives (improving interpersonal communication, trying out new ideas, beta-testing a new product). Competitiveness means stomping on the accelerator and not stopping to consider alternative paths or potential innovations.
Instead of competing with co-workers, I’m a proponent of collaboration and encouragement. When you remove the competitive component, you start to function as a cohesive team (and, as we all know, many heads are better than one). There is a reason workplaces are comprised of many different people with myriad responsibilities and perspectives—we’re meant to work together, brainstorm, collaborate, and make improvements.
Additionally, when workplaces move from an atmosphere of competitiveness to one of affirmation and support, people just might enjoy going to work—imagine that! An article by Harvard Business Review says that, “Employees who report having friends at work have higher levels of productivity, retention, and job satisfaction than those who don’t.”
Instead of fostering a highly competitive environment, it’s time companies shift their focus to interpersonal relationships and dynamics. As a leader, you can help build community in your workplace team in many different ways. Try throwing brief “get to know you” activities into your team meetings (your favorite food, dream vacation, any upcoming trips or events). Or enroll your people in a coaching program, such as Insights® Discovery, which is team-oriented and known to create lasting changes. Or, occasionally plan an activity, outing, or retreat for the team. You could present a few ideas and let people vote on their favorite one (so they have a voice in the planning process and are invested in the idea).
No matter how you decide to build community and amiability among team members, it’s important that it happens. While some amount of competitiveness isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it should not come at the expense of team unity and satisfaction. As a leader, you have the power to influence team cohesiveness, facilitate friendships, and encourage collaboration instead of competition.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS® DISCOVERY (AND DEEPER DISCOVERY) LICENSED PRACTITIONER, AND FOUNDER OF UXL. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE.
HER NEW EBOOK IS CALLED A QUICK GUIDE TO COURAGE
Tags: co-worker unity, margaret smith career coach, Margaret Smith LP of Insights, side effects of competitive workplace, uplift coworkers, uplift instead of compete with co-workers
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- Posted under Better Business, Teamwork, Thrive at Work
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