How To Manage The Four Strong Personalities You See In Meetings
We've all got our quirks, and most of us bring strengths and some weaknesses to the teams to which we belong. But there are four strong personalities that stand out for their ability, both positively and negatively, to impact team dynamics, especially when it comes to meetings.
There are the 'Challengers,' the big idea people who love going against convention. This is the person who blurts out mid meeting "This is a stupid idea. I've got something better we can try instead." Challengers can deliver the great idea that unsticks a team's thinking, but when the team has been developing that other idea for six weeks or even six months, and some team members are deeply invested in the work that's already been done, or if there are detail-oriented people also on the team whose brains scramble when the Challenger tries to blow everything up, team dynamics can quickly sour.
The 'Analyzers' are the content experts. Analyzers don't know everything, but what they do know, they know extremely well. When a team is dealing with a challenge that matches the Analyzer's area of expertise, you're seconds away from all the latest data and research that can help you solve the problem. But when the team focus strays from the Analyzer's areas of expertise, they get bored, lose interest, often affecting a dismissive attitude that can drag down other team members.
The "get it done" people or 'Implementers' are great on the operational side so go ahead and put them in charge of tactical plans, deadlines and workflows. But Implementers can get so caught up in the logistics of asking "but is that idea feasible?" that they inhibit team innovation.
Finally, there are the team-harmony focused 'Collaborators.' Say, for example, an Implementer is playing devil's advocate to a Challenger's big idea and a fight is about to ignite. The Collaborator is the person who jumps in and says, "You know, Pat, that was a really smart idea, but let's just take a minute to talk to Chris about whether or not we really have a chance to make this work." Collaborators are great at smoothing out the rough patches, but they can also take collaboration and consensus building to an extreme that hinders team progress.
The best team managers know how to utilize the strengths these four strong personalities while mitigating their weaknesses and the negative impact they have on the team. The following are a few techniques to help create productive and engaging meetings for everyone on the team.
1. Structure and planning is required to mobilize the talents of all four personality types in team meetings. Use a Statement of Achievement for every meeting that requires answering: As a result of this meeting, participants will ____. We will accomplish this by/through ____. If you can't answer the question, postpone until you can. Read this Forbes article on using a Statement of Achievement to save 17 minutes per meeting.
2. Create a cogent meeting agenda that clearly identifies 1) the meeting topic, 2) why this topic is on the agenda, 3) what the meeting hopes to accomplish and 4) how participants should prepare. Prevent the distraction of over populating your core team by using your agenda to identify who can, and cannot, add value to the meeting. For each participant you're considering, ask, "what special insight or power does this person have that I need to succeed?" and "Is this meeting the best way to access that insight or power?" It may be more productive to meet with some team members outside the meeting. For example, you can assign Analyzers the role of resource team, outside experts you only bring in when their expertise is needed.
3. Establish how decisions will be reached up front. There are four basic decision-making models: Power-based: "Let's take a vote to decide," Rights-based: "Let's let a third party outside expert (the boss, a book, an answer key) decide," Interest-based: "I'll meet you half way" (includes consensus or bargaining) and Relational: "I don't want to get into a fight so I will just let you have it your way." If using Power-Based, define this up front and stay committed to the established rules.
4. Equalize the room by picking a focal point, a central issue presented on a SMART Board, whiteboard or flip chart instead of everyone turning and squaring off to each other across the table. Get the input of quieter team members (and tone down strong personalities like Challengers and Analytics) using the Nominal Group Technique where everyone writes down their individual ideas (e.g. "should we raise our prices?") and passes them up to a leader to sort and share. Learn more about the Nominal Group Technique in this Forbes article.
Another way to encourage the sharing of ideas is to go around the room and ask: "How would you answer someone who asked about the other ideas we considered but didn't choose?" "Are there any circumstances under which our current decision won't work?" and "If you could create a solution from scratch, would this be it?"
5. End every meeting with a Decision Grid that asks all team members: What are you personally going to achieve and by when? Making the results transparent encourages accountability.
6. Finally, get the input of your team to improve meetings by occasionally asking three end of meeting assessment questions: #1: "How well did we meet our Statement of Achievement?" If the feedback is negative, rethink the reasons you are having meetings and how well you are focusing meetings on selected objectives. #2: "What's one thing you'd like to see more of?" The flipside, of course, is: What's one thing you'd like to see less of? These two questions will really get people talking and involved. # 3: "What's your takeaway?" This can be part of your Decision Grid or it can be a separate item, but make sure that everybody is clearly articulating "Here's what I'm responsible for."
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