Death by Meeting Revisited

Business, Leadership, management

It’s been nearly 15 years since Patrick Lencioni published “Death by Meeting”. Lencioni says we need more conflict in our meetings and it is a leadership skill to identify conflict and bring it into discourse. As we become more polarized as a society, this becomes more challenging because we are not reading much about great back and forth discussions and the exploration of win win solutions. A recent article in Knowledge @ Wharton applies the idea championed by Lencioni to marketing.  read more here

Here is a chart of the key ideas from a summary of Lencioni’s book.

Meeting Type

Time Required Purpose & Format Keys to Success
Daily Check-In

 

 5 – 10 minutes Share daily schedules and activities.

 
  • Don’t sit down.
  • Keep it administrative.
  • Don’t cancel even when some people can’t be there.
Weekly Tactical

 

 45 – 90 minutes Review weekly activities and metrics, and resolve tactical obstacles and issues.

 
  • Don’t set agenda until after initial reporting.
  • Postpone strategic discussions.
Monthly Strategic

(or Ad Hoc Strategic)

 

 2 – 4 hours Discuss, analyze, brainstorm, and decide upon critical issues affecting long-term success.

 
  • Limit to one to two topics.
  • Prepare and do research.
  • Engage in good conflict.
Quarterly Off-Site Review

 

 1 – 2 days

Review strategy, industry trends, competitive landscape, key personnel, team development.
  • Get out of the office.
  • Focus on work; limit social activities.
  • Don’t over structure or overburden the schedule.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/conflict-new-marketing-tool/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-02-23