How to hold a Better Business Meeting

Meetings generate the best ideas and solutions. It is a natural result of  putting intelligent minds together to work on a problem. Not, according to the research results posted on The Journal of Consumer Science. Their research suggests that meetings may actually be preventing the generation of great ideas.

H. Shankner Krishnan, Associate Professor of Marketing at Indiana University, says that “When a group gets together, they can miss out on good options. Whether it’s with family or a group of co-workers, we could very quickly fixate on things and all come up with the same options”. He also suggests that when an option is said out loud, the group will have a more difficult time coming up with other options.

So, according to the researchers, we need time to process a problem in order to develop our own creative solutions. From the time we are born, we have learned how to adapt and overcome our own problems. Just watch toddlers who want something that’s higher than their reach. Are they effective problem solvers? You bet. No one needs to tell them how to achieve their goal. Ever watched documentaries about monkeys? No one has to show them how to use tools as sticks that will pull ants out of ant holes. They are effective problem solvers. Absolutely.

Personally, I wasn’t surprised by the findings of Krishnan’s study. We are all born problem solvers. But, if you aren’t briefing the participants of your meetings and giving them time to process a solution, then you might not be maximizing upon their collective brain power. Yes, even those individuals that you least expect to get a good idea from, may surprise you. You know, the monkeys in your group? Give them a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised!  :)