Team leaders often face various obstacles when organizing meetings, brainstorming sessions etc. But some obstacles become visible only after the actual conversation. Even if a meeting has ended on an entirely positive note, and everyone happily marches off to their desks, that still doesn't guarantee, that any real action will follow.

Behold, one of the most common obstacles faced by team leaders: “We talked about it in the meeting, but nothing happened afterwards... as if we hadn't spoken at all”. The next meeting brings everyone together again, surprised glances are exchanged, and someone whispers to their neighbour in muted indignation: “nothing ever gets done here anyway”.

What's the problem, you ask? What are you or your team doing wrong and why? Reasons can vary, but here are some of the most common ones:

• No one is making any notes. No matter how much we brag, our memory is not as sharp as we would like to think it is. Where meetings are plenty, our memory gets sketchy, so an observing professional will see the habit of taking notes as an indicator that the writer will probably do something with that information, and that there will be follow-up actions.
• No consensus at the end of the meeting – who, when, how, with whom etc. will carry out the task. By the end of a meeting or a brainstorming session the walls are often covered with a sticky note carpet of ideas; everyone has poured their ideas and hearts out, but no real action or initiative follows. Team leaders and their teams may even say: “but we talked about it, didn't we...?” Bear in mind: nothing will just happen by itself unless specific agreements on tasks and responsibilities are made.
• The meeting does not address obstacles that delay completing tasks on time. A possible driver for this could be the historically established culture of “we can deal with anything”, where objections are brushed aside and problems are optimistically called “opportunities”, but at the end of the day everyone misses their deadlines anyway.
• Extreme resistance, when nothing is discussed any more (for/against, action/inaction) and instead there is silent protest and a planned failure of the task.

Leader's actions, to ensure action after a meeting:

• explain and teach the importance of notetaking in a polite and patient way. Note-taking may be encouraged by the leaders themselves taking notes (as an example) and a note-friendly environment: pages and pencils on the table or electronic templates of meeting notes, which are filled in by each attendee on a rotational basis etc.,
• identify possible obstacles after each addressed topic and encourage planning further actions (at least one), delegating responsibilities, agreeing on support from colleagues (if necessary), setting deadlines etc.,
• always prepare a summary at the end of a meeting/teamwork session; focus on further planned actions, allocated tasks and deadlines.
• if all the given suggestions have been implemented and you still notice that deadlines are not being met or tasks are not being carried out, discuss the situation with each team member individually. Perhaps a one-on-one talk will lead to a valuable insight into why such a situation has developed and how to tackle it!

Acquire teamwork moderation skills and check out the next Team Stream open course! Teach your team how to prepare for teamwork (meetings, brainstorming sessions), to stay focused during teamwork and individually mark down (and carry out!) the tasks identified during teamwork. Take responsibility, serve as an example and teach your team the individual responsibility for carrying out collective decisions.

Team leaders often face various obstacles when organizing meetings, brainstorming sessions etc. Example: a certain team member acts as if their opinion is the only correct one in every situation and topic; they relentlessly try to express their views to others. Some know-it-alls may even think they know a great deal more about moderating events and discussions than you do and would readily take over, if given half a chance.

Such signs are harder to be dealt with in oneself, for example, when you feel like you already know the solution and now you just need to get your team to accept it. Apart from your bursting ego, you be wondering, "What's the harm in that?" Well, the biggest losses are discouraging your team members from taking any responsibility in future and a decrease in team engagement.

How to spot such behaviour in others:

• speaking loudly and interrupting others,
• trying to answer or comment on all your questions first,
• "grabbing the mike": talking continuously and too much, often straying from the topic,
• using judgemental statements to justify their opinion, e.g. "this is the right way", "that won't work" etc.,
• know-it-alls will reprimand and interrupt others and explain, why their opinion isn't "right".

How to spot such behaviour in oneself (if you are observant and honest with yourself):

• speaking loudly and interrupting others,
• you may notice that you're doing most of the talking,
• you are annoyed by the "feeble" proposals of others or feel like "no one is saying anything half-decent anyway",
• you may start asking yourself "why is it that I'm the only one coming up with any ideas?"

Therefore, a leader/you should:

• unless it is a short, informative meeting where only you know and give all the specifics, try to ask as many open-ended questions as possible so that you may learn the opinion and thoughts of your teammates. Such questions typically start with W or H (what, who, how, when, where etc.). Try to avoid questions with "why", because they encourage excuses and self-justification,
• hear out the proposals, thoughts and ideas of all team members, even if you think that they “don't make any sense”. If you shoot down someone's opinion once, you have probably cut any future input by this member as well.
• if you observe that the loudest, most active members are taking too much advantage, give everyone a word, even those, who usually remain silent. Encourage reserved and shy members to speak up as well,
• for team development purposes, introduce a time limit for speakers; this will manage and teach team members to prepare beforehand. It's also a great way for everyone to offer their views, not just the loudest participants.

Learn to involve everyone in the teamwork. Teach your team the skill of giving others a word and the respect and consideration for others' opinions and views, even if they go against the flow. Inform others about the benefits of teamwork. Teamwork can easily grow into great achievements: hearing out people's opinions takes time, but if team members feel heard and involved and learn the art of collective decision-making, the team becomes unstoppable in reaching its goals.

Team leaders often face various obstacles when organizing meetings, brainstorming sessions etc. Example: one or several team members are openly ignoring the teamwork. The levels and intensity of such behaviour can vary anywhere from the lowest "frequencies" to blatant indifference, unbearable to other team members.

How to spot ignoring:

• silence, which is noticeable and somehow very “telling”, accompanied by direct or defiant eye contact, sneer,
• clipped tone or mocking remarks (not related to the topic at hand),
• closed body posture,
• lack of eye contact or averted gaze,
• overly formal answers to questions or unwillingness to participate in the teamwork,
• abrupt departure from the meeting under the pretext of other, vague reasons, etc.

Therefore, a leader/you should:

• consider each team member's opinion and stance in the discussed question beforehand; this is especially useful when “hot” issues as discussed.
• try to figure out and understand the reasons for the ignoring (if predictable, such behaviours should be best considered before the meeting or during a break, by inviting the participant to discuss it one on one). The underlying reason may very well surprise you and/or require minimal response without any large-scale adjustments or discussions within the team.
• in such cases, it's better to achieve an angry but sincere response instead of a situation, when your opponent remains "in the trenches". Even an angrily expressed position remains just that – a position – and can then be dealt with accordingly. You should note that ignoring is often caused by the highest degree of anger;
• ignoring is often caused by your (leader's) own comments or actions within the team: neglect, tactlessness, refusal to listen to the opinions of others and allowing other team mates to negatively comment or belittle each other's opinions or to disrespect each other.
• you should also note, that silence doesn't always mean the person is ignoring you! Silence may indicate that the participant doesn't know what to say, hasn't formed any ideas or opinions yet or is feeling uncomfortable or confused.

In any case, try to see the participant's indifference as a sign of something significant that you have overlooked and that needs to be figured out. Remember: it is entirely within your power to dispel indifference and increase engagement!

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Acquire teamwork moderation skills and check out the next Team Stream open course!