KO#8
Welcome to the 8th issue of the Knockout Your Sunday Scaries Newsletter, an every-other-week newsletter by me, Kristy Olinger, with a focus on workplace communication and self-development. I’m glad you’re here. Was this forwarded to you? Get yours: Subscribe here
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Hi there,
Did you know that larger meetings are less inclusive? I came across this idea in the book Glad We Met by Steven G. Rogelberg and was struck by the counterintuitive nature of the idea to exclude people from the meeting to make it more inclusive.
It just doesn’t sound right. But it is. Here’s why:
Logistically, the more people you have in a meeting the less air time any one individual can practically have to express their ideas. In a large meeting, people are physically present but not necessarily able to contribute. There’s another impact that happens when meetings are too large; social loafing.
Social loafing is when people exert less effort to achieve something when working in a group vs. working alone. (remember group projects in school?!?!) In the meeting context, people are less likely to engage deeply in a larger group because there’s a sense of being able to hide amongst the crowd.
Yet…don’t people get upset when they are excluded from meetings? Sure. Rogelberg provides a simple 3 step process to prevent people from feeling marginalized if they are not invited:
Explain why
Ask for their input on the topic in advance
Send notes after the meeting
How much would your work experience be changed by: 1) not needing to go to as many meetings AND 2) having more meaningful and engaging conversations in all of the meetings you do go to?
It sounds like a possible antidote to the Sunday Scaries.
Hit reply and say ‘hi’ - wether you’re an OG subscriber or just stumbled across this, I would love to hear from you. What do YOU want from a newsletter like this? How can I help you banish your Sunday scaries? Let me know.
📚 What I’m reading: The Women, by Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah is one of my all time favorite authors. This complex topic of Vietnam war veterans and their experiences upon returning from war is brought to life through the perspective of an Army nurse. This would be a great book club book. One of only 8 books I’ve given 5 stars to in Good Reads in the last 24 months.
Content Round Up - In Case You Missed It
Even if you’re following me on social media, the algorithm may or may not put my post in your feed. Here is what has launched over the last 2 weeks, in case you missed it.
Book Summary: Glad we Met by Steven G. Rogelberg - BLOGPOST
This book covers everything you need to know about creating a culture of valuable 1:1 meetings from cadence to location to agendas and more. Read this summary for my favorite 3 ideas and 1 that I hated.
3 Tips for Large Meetings - VIDEO
When there are 100+ people in a meeting and more than one presenter, a lot can go wrong. In this video I give 3 tips for helping large meetings to run smoothly.
How to prepare for a meeting in no time - VIDEO
Even when I haven’t prepared for a meeting, I take a few minutes before the call to preview the meeting planner and consider what value I can add.
Habit to remember more of what you read - VIDEO
In this video I expose myself as someone who dog-ears pages. I turning up the bottom corners on book pages when an idea jumps out at me, then I go back and capture those ideas in OneNote so that I can find them again later.
You made it to the end! Congrats & thanks. ❤️ Have a great two weeks.
Stay Curious,
Kristy
P.S. work journal prompts help you build a reflection habit that turns your every day work situations in to an opportunity for growth
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