"Let's Go around the Room...Or Not"

If you say, “Let’s go around the room” in a meeting, you've failed, according to Seth Godin, author of the books Linchpin and Purple Cow. Says Godin, “You've abdicated responsibility and just multiplied the time wasted by the number of people in the room.” (http://bit.ly/bestmeetings)

We agree that this approach to meetings can be counterproductive,  because many of us stop listening. We become completely caught up in our own heads, rehearsing what we are going to say in order to sound impressive--or drifting away to something more entertaining. 

As we’ve long said, meeting facilitators should find ways to invite quieter people into the conversation, but a better way to do this is to give each person 45 seconds to offer a PRES (Point, Reason, Example, Summary) statement (check out our 7/29/2014 Capsule). Also encourage active listening and interaction. If you find yourself in a “go around the room” scenario, you can make the best of it by paying attention, asking open-ended questions, and paraphrasing.  Resist the temptation to tune out or plan your “moment in the sun.”  Deeply listening to what others are saying and staying plugged in allows you to be an emergent leader.

We want to hear.  What ideas do you have for getting group members connected and updated without the boredom and wasted time of long “go around the room” scenarios?  Join the conversation and click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

Image Credit: Acumen https://www.flickr.com/photos/acumenfund/

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