Clarifying go-around

…you are about to start an important meeting, or people are not sure what to do next. or you feel stuck in allies experience differences and need to break an apparent logjam.

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A dependable security blanket when there is uncertainty about what to do next relaxes and helps you just stand there while the group helps you sort it out.

Forces:

• people can integrate only to the extent that they make functional differences public;
• people need to know who they’re dealing with and what they bring to the table.

You may ask the group, ”We’d like to hear one sentence from every person who wants to speak. How do you feel or think about the situation? Then we will decide what to do.” Nearly always this act of differentiation produces information that gives all of us choices not obvious a few minutes earlier.

Therefore:

Nearly always start with a go-around with giving everyone a chance to comment on what they do, why they came, what they want, and/or what they know. Note if the next step becomes apparent. If not, suggest potential next steps.

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Sources

• Don’t just do something, stand there!—Ten Principles for Leading Meetings That Matter by Marvin Weisbord, Sandra Janoff