Hours arguing

At the beginning of things, in the middle of them, at the end and all points in between, there is room for confusion, uncertainty, miscommunication, unclear agreements, things you thought you heard, things you thought you said and every other which way of missing the intention or meaning of what just happened.

The answer is to write it down – on a whiteboard, in minutes, in your notebook – and then agree what was agreed and the actions that were committed.

Problem is, at the end of the meeting, everyone’s probably more interested in escaping than spending even one more minute in here. It’s dull. Boring. And it’s the difference between teams that waste time and the emotional stress of miscommunications, and those that seem to keep on truckin’ along pretty straight lines.

It’s a choice: five minutes now or three hours arguing next time.

Skippy strategy: Take time to clarify.

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Category:
Focus