The 3 things we miss out on when we don't 'make sense'

I’ve been writing about the power of sensemaking; the Institute for the Future identified it as a top skill for these times.

Information overload, busy schedules, more meetings than we’d like - and we get swamped with information we need to make sense of.

Sometimes this is information outside of our domain of expertise so there's learning we need to do too ... as well as the sensemaking.

Individually we read things, listen and make sense, alone.

But there’s also the practice of being able to make sense of information together, as a team or group; this is collective sensemaking.

Unfortunately we tend to default to dated ways of working. You know, meetings that follow old style formats of 18th Century Parliamentary procedures with agendas, minutes, attendance, apologies, general business, meeting closed, next meeting ... blah blah yawn!

The problem with this linear, archaic way of working is that

1️⃣ Ideas get overlooked

2️⃣ Decisions don't get made

3️⃣ Problems remain unsolved.

A status quo remains. Then we try again at the next meeting.

*groan

You CAN make a cultural shift using Collective Sensemaking.

Look at where you're looking

Teamwork takes longer than it needs to because we struggle as a group to make sense of what’s going on. No wonder! We’ve never been more distracted, looking at devices, laptops, watches & journals as relief from the boredom, complication and irrelevance of meetings.

Check the distractions here:

⬇️ The guy (left) is looking at a Spotify playlist

➡️ She’s mindful with her coffee

↘️ Sunglasses dude is checking spreadsheets, emails or Slack 

🔀 The two on the right are writing in a journal, one just checked her Fitbit or Apple watch 

There are 5 laptops, 6 devices, 4 note pads and a folder-thingy.

We're perpetually distracted by other visual points of interest, stealing our focus from the team's work.

One person might be going OK making sense, but another two or three people may have ‘lost the threads’ of what's really going on.

Look where people are looking. Unless and until you have what I call a ‘Common Visual Point of Context’, you’ll all be drawn to you own ‘Individual Points of Relief’ (or Distraction). 

About that meeting you were in that just didn't make sense...🤯

We're familiar with the dull meeting, droning on, not achieving anything. But just as frustrating is the meeting that's a messy, confusing and complicated sh*t storm. Things are tricky, frustrating, perhaps complex. All those different views and ideas!

How do you find your way out of it all towards a conclusion or outcome? This is the everyday struggle of the 'meeting that doesn’t make sense.' It’s grossly inefficient to all sit around a table and try to talk through everything on the agenda.

That's a big ask of words alone.

I’ve posted previously on 'sensemaking'; how we understand the deeper meaning of what’s going on. Well there’s 'Collective Sensemaking' too: how we work things out as a group, team, project ... together, collectively.

A team trying to work out what the heck is happening, planning for an uncertain future under changing conditions, would do well to know not just how to make sense individually, alone ... but how to make sense collectively, together.

Continue to cause damage - or decide you’ll make a difference

I’ve been posting this week on how being a leader who has contemporary facilitation skills is a huge advantage in today's workplace.

The time we waste in dull/boring/ineffective meetings should be enough of an incentive to make change!

Massive productivity gains are made when leaders know how to lead engaging, inspiring and productive meetings that get work done AND protect people’s self esteem so they stay engaged.

You can change culture by changing how you run meetings, workshops, consultations and conversations.

But damage is done to people in meetings when they're treated poorly, ignored, interrupted, excluded, forgotten, shut down.

It’s not on them to ‘speak up’; it’s on you to extend your leadership capability to include people, elicit information and contributions, helping to make work easier.

Facilitation is a life skill to be developed, not a simple skill to read a few articles about.

Do you commit to putting facilitation on your professional development agenda?

The difference you'll make will be immeasurable; the damage to people otherwise could be extreme. 

The clichés of average facilitation

Despite all the advice on how to lead better meetings, we still see many behaviours and clichés that stop, block and slow group progress.

By using a cliché or common saying we might be trying to make things happen quicker.

But some clichés cause problems. They can kill collaboration, smash diversity and slow up progress. Usually the reverse of what we’re aiming to do!

Here are 10 workshop & meeting clichés I see and hear way too often:

1. Would you take the notes please (insert woman's name)

2. I hear what you’re saying but...

3. Let’s car park it

4. Let’s take it offline

5. What do others think?

6. We need to move on

7. Are we all in agreement then?

I know I promised 10 clichés but there are only 8 because...

8. We've run out of time! Leader as Facilitator: whether it's a leadership position, title, role or responsibility, or a mindset and way of working, leaders have incredible opportunities to build engagement, gather diverse views and get important work done via facilitation.

Avoid clichés. Keep conversations going, building engagement - be anti-cliché.