One day I was faced with an audience that didn’t know who I was and I was taught a harsh lesson – I had been running ineffective meetings for years.

For years, I had observed my bosses and proudly followed the meeting practices that they delivered with each meeting. I always had an agenda that is defined to the minute with all my thoughts that needed to be covered, and I was a constant clock watcher to make sure each item was covered within the allotted timeframe. My meetings were the model of smooth and efficient.

Then, one day I am sitting at my desk in Silicon Valley, as the Director of Operations, when I receive a call from my CEO, a new boss for me, which I recently acquired through a merger with a much larger organization two time zones away, she is asking me to lead the planning and execution of our annual company meeting that would all occur in Austin, Tx.

The CEO provided a blank sheet of paper, a hand-picked team and empowered us to create the mission, theme and a program that would inspire the organization to be inspired to collaborate with the new companies that were being integrated (like mine). I was provided a team of 12 people that all knew each other. I only knew one of them. Most didn’t even know there was an office in California. This was the first time I was leading a team that I couldn’t see, they weren’t too happy about the extra meeting each week, and it was well before video conferencing was a thing.

I’ll be honest, the first meeting was a disaster. I was out of my element in more ways than one. Sixty minutes went by and we had only spoken on two of the items on my list. I had a list of participant names and no clue who was actually talking – I didn’t know these voices. We were a sinking ship for sixty long minutes. I didn’t know what I was doing and had no clear vision on how we would put together a meeting for all the employees.

For years I had thought meetings were the most efficient way to communicate information and expectations. After all, my meetings were always efficient, and I was quickly learning they were not very effective. I was lost in how to bring the team together and forge forward.

I tripped over my own need to change.

The second meeting started with my attitude in the dumps, my head was hanging low and I was discouraged before it even started. I had no plan, not knowing what to do, I was forced to let go of my expectations and was forced to allow the meeting to occur. We spent 60-minutes talking about “what are we going to do?”. I listened intently, only speaking to ensure we stayed on topic, and taking intense notes. The most amazing unfiltered thoughts were coming forward. Even though many of our ideas seemed out of our reach, they allowed us to collectively create ideas, along with breaking out assignments and tasks for the project ahead. Everyone stepped up and, miraculously, we walked away a team with the start of a road map.

I was that boss once… that forced meetings into a pre-defined result and it failed. Getting through 10 topics in sixty minutes leaves no time for progress or “what if?” collaboration. In essence, I had been delivering team speeches in the past, the same way my bosses had.

Now when I assemble a team, I am aware of the value and contribution that each will bring to the meeting or project. It’s no longer my meeting. It’s the team’s meeting and each person has a role within that meeting. Meeting agendas are still critical to a good meeting, setting a schedule for progress and next steps. Now, it is less about pushing everything into the 60-minutes and 100% about collaboration and progress on the road map.

#iwasthatbossonce #collaboration #endlessmeetings