Running Effective Meetings: The Prisoner Mindset

There are several components to running an effective meeting. It’s especially important for senior management to facilitate meetings that are effective, productive and contribute to the overall progress of the company.
One of the most important factors in creating effective meetings is mindset. What mindset do you have coming into the meeting?

Your approach to the meeting can make all the difference in the world.

Meeting mindsets and the discipline of participation

How you show up to and attend a meeting is a matter of discipline. How you view the meeting going in will determine how much you’re able to contribute and how much you’re able to take away.

This month we’re going to take a look at meeting participation as a discipline. We’re going to examine the different mindsets you might choose to attend a meeting with.

There are four basic mindsets we tend to employ when entering a meeting:

• Prisoner. The Prisoner is forced to attend the meeting. They’d rather be doing “real work” instead of sitting around a table wasting time.
• Vacationer. Like the Prisoner, the vacationer believes the meeting is a waste of time. However, they relish the thought of an hour away from the daily grind, and are likely to simply tune out.
• Critic. The Critic knows what the meeting is about and has already solved the dilemma. Their job is neither to learn nor dialogue, but to demonstrate their own superior knowledge.
• Developer. The developer wants to solve challenges. They see meetings as an opportunity to collaborate with others who may have expertise and knowledge beyond theirs in order to make good things happen.

Changing your mindset starts with understanding your mindset and recognizing its potential weaknesses.

The Prisoner mindset

This is probably the most naturally-occurring mindset when it comes to meetings. At its base, it is certainly the most logical. Even meeting notices encourage it, at times. “There will be a mandatory meeting Thursday at 10am in the large conference room.”

Mandatory. You have no choice. It’s your job. Your boss demands it. You have to attend.

Independence, autonomy, and creativity – all of which are components of most successful people’s workday – are suspended at 10am on Thursday.

This mindset makes you ineffective in meetings. You bring nothing with you except reluctance.

How to break free

The Prisoner mindset is, in a way, a prison in its own right. It boxes you in, keeping you from being effective in a meeting.

Instead of viewing the meeting as a prison, turn those excuses around:

• “It’s your job.” Yes, it is. Part of your job is the privilege and responsibility to produce the best possible deliverables, and meetings can be a way to gain valuable knowledge or make important plans to help with those deliverables.
• “Your boss demands it.” You have your boss’ trust. They count on you to produce results, and they believe this meeting will aid you to that end. Reciprocate that trust, and assume that the meeting will indeed help you produce results.
• “You have to attend.” There’s a reason you have to attend, and it’s not just because there’s a specific title under your nameplate. You have to attend because your skills, knowledge, experience and input are vital to the success of this meeting. In fact, your engagement with this meeting may determine whether or not it was the waste of time you thought it would be.

Marcus Coaching’s BusinessLife skill: Running effective meetings

Along with examining meeting mindsets this months, we’ll also look into one of Marcus Coaching’s essential BusinessLife’s skill: running effective meetings, and how that BusinessLife skill can exponentially increase the effectiveness of your meetings.

We’ll discuss this over and over again, but the first step is essential:

Understand the purpose for each meeting. Know you’re there for a reason.

Take a moment and re-read that last line. It should be the core principle you employ before entering any meeting. Make it your pre-meeting mantra.

Beating the Prisoner mindset

Do you have employees who enter your meetings with the Prisoner mindset? You might not realize it, but chances are pretty good you do. Fortunately, the Prisoner mindset can be easy to overcome.

Believe it or not, some meeting organizers even enter a meeting with the Prisoner mindset.

Here are some principles to keep in mind that will help you free your meeting Prisoners:

1. People enter meetings preoccupied. They’ve got other things on their minds. They might be work-related, to be sure, but nevertheless they will interfere with what you’re trying to cover in the meeting.
2. People want to feel a sense of involvement. An important part of overcoming the Prisoner mindset is engaging attendees on an individual level. Ask them questions that only they have the answers to. Draw out relevant information. In doing so, you refocus their interest and you help them feel empowered.
3. Ownership and empowerment lead to greater productivity. By asking questions and prodding discussion during meetings, participants begin to feel ownership. When decisions are made, they take ownership of those decisions. Once the meeting is over, they go out and do what needs to be done.

Will you choose to be a Prisoner?

Being a meeting prisoner is a choice. It’s something you want to happen. Accordingly, it’s up to you to break free of the prisoner mindset. A meeting facilitator can encourage your freedom, but it’s up to you to grasp it.

Take hold of your responsibilities. Bring your best self to your meetings. You’re there for a reason; fulfill your purpose. Don’t show up as a prisoner. Show up as an essential team member.

Are meetings a vacation?

Not everyone sees meetings as a trip to Leavenworth. Some see it as a trip to Tahiti. The Vacationer takes a laid-back approach to meetings (and probably to their daily work, as well). They show up, but take no ownership and don’t feel especially impacted by outcomes. Next time we’ll examine the Vacationer in-depth, and talk about how to overcome the Vacationer mindset.