Time is money and in many organizations with which I work, I see this waste consistently: Meetings ineffective. , being the biggest bar of the time in many organizations, together with a lack of clarity of objectives and vision and mission of the organization. In any meeting that is convened the most important, even more, than the topics to be discussed, is that the members of the group that will form that meeting feel at ease, comfortable with the situation and motivated, because of them and of the work they do depends on the results obtained. Whenever there is a group that meets to achieve a goal, to obtain a solution, to discuss a problem, etc., the necessary environment must be guaranteed so that both the operation is adequate and optimal.
To achieve this, all members must feel their belonging to the group and, at the same time, they must feel that their needs, at least the basic ones, are going to be fulfilled and are guaranteed, otherwise fear and misgivings will carry the group work towards a more than likely failure.
“We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for the rest of the team “Vala Afshar.
Already in the last century, Abraham Maslow, considered as one of the founders of Humanistic Psychology, studied and theorized about the self-realization and the full development of the human being. His studies and theories led him to propose a hierarchy of the needs of any individual that could be represented as a pyramid.
Thus was born the famous pyramid that bears his name, Pyramid of Maslow, which graphically represents the different levels of needs to be covered by anyone. At the base represented the basic and basic physiological needs, at the second level appear the needs for security and protection, the next the needs of the person to belong to a social group, then placed the level of social recognition of the group towards that person, and at the top of the pyramid, the needs of self-realization.
According to this pyramid, a person can not reach its full development, that is, the top of the pyramid, if it has not started from the base before and has been climbing and reaching each level. That is, you can not go to a higher level if you can not meet the need of the current level in which you are.
The first level, which covers elementary needs, would be covered, at least in theory, from the moment a person works and receives a salary with which he can meet those needs. If a company wants to have its members motivated and identified with the progress of the organization, it should be concerned that its members reach the higher levels of the pyramid. At minimum each person must have satisfied the lower levels that, supposedly intended for the group to which he belongs.
“Teamwork begins by building trust. The only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability. “Patrick Lencioni.
If we apply these ideas, the person responsible, convener or animator, functions that are likely to fall on the same person, should take care of the levels in which the attendees are, since it is indispensable that each assistant has, at least, a clear feeling of belonging to the group, if their contributions are intended to reach an adequate level of recognition.
Otherwise, if this person does not reach that level, it will be very difficult for him to participate in the meeting and therefore, can contribute something positive, since he will feel his role as that of a mere spectator and that he will hardly dare to participate in anything that is proposed to him. The person in charge of the meeting will only be able to succeed if, with his or her performance, it helps to satisfy the participants, otherwise the motivation will disappear and it will be difficult in that environment to achieve the objectives that were intended by the meeting.
“A boat does not advance if everyone is paddling in one direction” Swahili Proverb.
When a new group is formed or when new members join in, a series of phases take place until an optimal level is reached.
At the beginning there will be a certain insecurity about the lack of knowledge about the group, and this will probably be the most critical stage, because if you can not overcome this feeling, it will be difficult to achieve full integration. The role of the leader will be crucial and, if possible, seek the collaboration of senior members of the group to help achieve integration and overcoming initial insecurity.
Once this initial part is over, the tranquility between the participants will be manifest and the implication in the search of results will take center stage, so that the group will begin to roll and to operate in a clear way.
“Team spirit is what gives many companies an advantage over their competitors. “George Clements. When you finally get all the members of the group are at the same level and that this is the right one, it is the group as such that takes the lead, and the role of the person in charge will be diluted by self-regulation among the members. It is possible that, once the group has been strengthened, it is possible that someone from the point of view of self-regulation mentioned earlier.
There is always the possibility that, due to different circumstances, there will be a crisis within the group, which would affect the balance and the level of work achieved until then. Well, it is an aspect that must be taken into account, if it is the case, to know how to redirect negative situations to the levels in which the group works motivated and cohesion.
If a person does not dare to oppose what has expressed his boss because he is afraid that this one retaliates, will not participate in the meeting. If a person feels strange because he does not know the rest or does not have good relations with those present, he will not participate in the meeting. If a person feels that every time he or she thinks something is not recognized, but even receives criticism, it will not participate in the meeting. If a person feels that he does not bring anything to the meetings, do not participate in the meeting.
Each level of the Maslow Pyramid is going to pose a new challenge to overcome so that meetings flow and be productive. And abandoning members to levels other than their own will lead to meetings being junk and a waste and a bigger thief of time for an organization.
And time is gold, and if we do not make our meetings golden, we will have a great cost all levels.