A while back, I had a heated conversation with my adult son around something he had a timeframe to complete and didn’t get it done, costing us both time and money to fix. He firmly stated his facts and I volleyed mine right back at him. We hung up both irritated and nothing solved. What should have been an efficient process took twice the work and energy. If I would have known then this process, I could have saved us both a lot of time and headaches.
I’ve seen managers do something similar. They set up a meeting, hammer out their agenda and leave without much input, feedback or next steps.
Here’s the irony.
If you do all the talking in a meeting or conversation, then you should just send an email and save your breath. You don’t gain any concepts, solutions, feedback or new ideas if you don’t allow time for dialogue.
What I’ve learned from both managing and coaching others, is there’s an effective way to have meetings or conversations where you get buy-in, accountability, and both walk away rejuvenated. The best thing is it doesn’t take a lot of time.
Here are four simple questions to ignite personal accountability and empower people to take action.
