October's featured writer Jack Wolf, PhD, CPT

Atlanta Creativity Exchange 2010
May 6-8, 2010
"Hooked at the Roots"
October's featured writer Jack Wolf, PhD, CPT


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"Successful Meetings 101"
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Dear Robert Alan,

The next time you attend a meeting lead by someone else take note of the amount of "air time" the highest ranking person in the room takes---it's usually 75% or more. Individuals in hard economic times are even more hesitant to render an opinion/suggestion/criticism due to what I refer to as "job jeopardy".

So how do you get 100% of the participants at a meeting to contribute to the outcome/objectives for the meeting? You use silence as a method of neutralizing the authority and power of the high ranking individuals in the room. By using silence a team leader can obtain truthful opinions and desired feedback so that everyone will have contributed before the end of the time together.

Here is a handy tip when using silence in meetings:

"What" Questions Technique- Have paper, 3x5 cards, or sticky notes in front of each person at the meeting. Make sure everyone has a pen before you start the meeting as well because the participants will be asked to respond in writing to the questions you are about to ask.

Begin each question using the word "what" and not why as why is an emotionally aggressive word as in "why are sales down, why are you working here, what do you do for the organization, why are you driving that car, etc." The next part of the Tip is when you start asking your what questions always begin with a big picture/global question first---as in "what are the 3 greatest problems/challenges facing this organization"?

After you have the response to a few big picture questions you can go more specific with your questioning like "what are the 3 greatest problems/challenges facing this department/team/group/product line/etc." After each question you collect the data on the papers but make sure that you never ask for anyone to place their name on this response---of you will continue to get the "me too" data that you are used to in most meetings. As in "I, as the leader, think this is the problem-what does everyone else think"? The responses will for the most part reflect in large measure the opinion of the manager/leader's opening statement---a chorus of "me too".

Once you ask the problem questions always ask for potential solutions to the problems. I usually ask the audience to place them on the back of the problem side so I get problem definition and solution possibilities all on the same card/paper.

Hope you have great success using silence in your meetings.

Jack