𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. (Save post for later!) 💡

"I used to run the most efficient meetings in the company."

Thorsten (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥) was reflecting during a coaching session on how he completely changed his approach. All this after he realized, that having a team where everyone says yes, is not as great as he thought.

"30 minutes max. Clear agenda. Everyone nodded. We made decisions fast."

This was most of his meetings like.

But after his strategy disaster, Thorsten realized something: 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

"My meetings were efficient because no one disagreed with me," he told me. "That's not efficiency. That's fear."

🚫 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
↳ He presented the problem and his preferred solution.
↳ Asked "Any questions?" (getting silence).
↳ Said "Great, let's move forward".  Meeting done in 20 minutes.

✔️ The new meeting rules he created had some striking points:
↳ He presented the problem. Not his preferred solution.
↳ Asked the younger team members to share opinions before seniors.
↳ Then everyone could speak up.

"It  was weird at first," Thorsten laughed. "But for the second time it felt less weird. We got really fresh ideas coming in."

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱? 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 "𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲" 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲.

The team is debating new strategies, agree on pockets to save costs and to grow. With more commitment from everyone than ever before.

A couple of weeks later he told me during a coaching session: "Now my meetings take longer," Thorsten reflected. "But my strategies actually work."

What's stopping your team from speaking up in meetings?

👇 If this sounds way too familiar to you, take the free speak-up quiz below and get your assessment. 👇

#change #coaching #executivecoaching