Hard Truths About the Meeting After the Meeting

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Personal Development, Leading & Managing Section | 2

Hard Truths About the Meeting After the Meeting

By Phillip G. Clampitt | MIT Sloan Management Review | May 06, 2024

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A leader attempting to quash the meeting after the meeting would be like a coach trying to stop fans from opining, snarking, or rejoicing after a big game. The hard truth: Win or lose, there will be post-meeting speculations, opinions, and queries. As Dave Kievet, CEO of the Boldt Group, put it, “The meeting after the meeting is inevitable. The only question is whether you are going to participate in that conversation or not.” But leaders can minimize the mischief and mayhem that the meeting after the meeting can create, and positively influence the group’s ongoing dialogues about initiatives, performance, and work climate.

Leaders must understand that the meeting after the meeting often generates moments of clarification, grousing, or pushback. In turn, these outcomes cultivate workplace climates ranging from supportive to toxic.  What leaders do before, during, and after the formal meeting greatly influences the dynamics of later gatherings.  Five strategies to help leaders transform these post-meeting dynamics in a positive way are:

1. Improve meeting choreography. Choreographers carefully consider the number of dancers on the stage, the sequence of movements, and the set. So, too, does meeting choreography: A leader can shape the conversational space before, during, and after a discussion, thereby influencing the acceptance of key decisions, the performance of critical personnel, and team spirit.  to enhance meeting choreography, leaders should focus attention on why (why are we having the meeting?), who (who should attend?), what (what should we discuss?), when (when should the discussion take place?), where (where should the meeting be held?), and how (how should the meeting be conducted?).
2. Craft routine protocols for communicating change.  Any major change, welcome or not, naturally sparks post-meeting discussions — for leaders, those can be dangerous embers. Seven key factors that leaders need to address when communicating major decisions: What was the decision?  How was the decision made?  Why was the decision made?  What were some of the rejected alternatives to the announced decision?  How does the decision fit into the organizational mission and vision?  How does the decision impact the organization?  How does the decision impact employees?
3. Bridge gaps between differing backgrounds and experiences.  Bridge the gaps in a variety of ways, including:  sharing white papers or background reading before a meeting, acknowledging differing perspectives, encouraging participants to offer differing points of view, and inviting a devil’s advocate to the meeting or asking someone to temporarily play that role.
4. Channel emotions and depersonalize concerns. Acknowledging attendees’ concerns (whether valid or not) fosters a spirit of respect and encourages people to voice vague and perhaps politically incorrect sentiments during the formal meeting rather than afterward. By bringing down the emotion in the room, a leader can convert emotive and passionate reactions into ideas worthy of further contemplation and reasoned debate.
5. Elevate the value of pushback in the formal meeting. During the formal meeting, leaders can negotiate tweaks to policies or procedures to ease their implementation — and can even reimagine decisions.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. The meeting after the meeting is inevitable. The only question is whether you are going to participate in that conversation or not.” But leaders can minimize the mischief and mayhem that the meeting after the meeting can create, and positively influence the group’s ongoing dialogues about initiatives, performance, and work climate.
2. Leaders must understand that the meeting after the meeting often generates moments of clarification, grousing, or pushback. In turn, these outcomes cultivate workplace climates ranging from supportive to toxic.  What leaders do before, during, and after the formal meeting greatly influences the dynamics of later gatherings.  
3. Five strategies to help leaders transform these post-meeting dynamics in a positive way are:  improve meeting choreography, Craft routine protocols for communicating change, Bridge gaps between differing backgrounds and experiences, Channel emotions and depersonalize concerns, and Elevate the value of pushback in the formal meeting.

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Topics:  Leadership, Communication, Organizational Behavior, Meetings, Teams