Developing Leadership Abilities

Participation in Meetings

Meetings are the most obvious arena for increased participation—both in quality and in quantity—by team members. How does a leader get team members to give their best effort to such occasions?

To approach an answer to that question, think for a moment about the nature of team meetings. By any estimate, these get-togethers are an expensive habit for any organization. You’re calling people away from their day-to-day tasks to ... well, talk. At your next meeting, add up what the company is spending in prorated salary or hourly wages to have the participants sitting around a table for a couple of hours—and then ask where the meeting earned its keep. It’s not uncommon to discover $1,000 meetings called to deal with a $100 ...