To have successful meetings, we can use common tools and techniques to keep our conversations on track, ensure everyone has a chance to speak and clarify how GTC’s clients will make decisions. But it is also through our meetings that we collectively decide what actions we will take to fulfill our mission. The character of our meetings, be they open and supportive or hierarchical and competitive, mirrors our organization or group culture.
By designing and facilitating our meetings more deliberately and systematically, we can achieve better thinking, more robust solutions to problems, and greater decision-making support. Moreover, we can begin to create the type of meetings (and in turn the type of organizations) that reflect the basic human values of mutual understanding, full participation in decisions, and support for each other’s efforts and aspirations.