In some settings groups are unable to reach consensus and decisions. If the exchange of ideas has stalled and if all point of views are clear, then change settings towards a cosy and warm atmosphere. Location: a normal meeting room ‘I don’t understand why you aren’t giving us the information!’ I had lost count [...]
‘Well! If you can’t handle it, I’ll do it!’ She almost screamed the sentence then stood up and left the meeting room. She went straight to her working space, fell in her chair and gazed through the window. She felt exasperated. Her team was not able to pull it off. The past 2 years, [...]
Sometimes I’m just a participant of a meeting. I cherish these meetings. I’m just one of the pack, do not need to lead the meeting and can decide my own role according to my whims. This time I was in an observing and learning mood. A crowd of approximately 40 participants had gathered around the [...]
Dr. John P. Kotter is a former professor at the Harvard Business School and is regarded as one of the biggest authorities on leadership and change. He has authored 17 books, many of which are bestsellers. ‘Leading Change’, his biggest success was reedited last year a little earlier than his article ‘Accelerate’ in which he [...]
People unite and gather to make great achievements. When these gatherings become formal we call them meetings. And everyone will agree that there are good and bad meetings. Sadly enough, in most organisations the bad ones dominate over the good ones. And it is sad indeed. Because you disengage from the group and that, in [...]
Meetings do cost money. Definitely. And you can find numerous tools that help you calculate the costs of your meetings, such as TIM, Time = Money or many more downloadable apps on the internet. But what do these numbers really say? It only tells you how much money you invested in the meeting. And that [...]
Dave Gray, founder and chairman of the visual thinking company XPLANE, has just released his new book ‘The Connected Company’. The speed that information moves across, customers, markets, investors and beyond, changes the environments in which our companies are operating. More and more, customers request special and tailor-made treatments. In ‘The Connected Company’ Dave Gray [...]
There’s a fine line between pushing others into something new and letting them decide for themselves. It was only a matter of time. The decision to cut the budget by more than 50% was formally not yet taken, but only a miracle could save the organisation, a big music school in the South of the [...]
It was a former colleague at my first job that ignited my interest in meetings. He got me onto meetings… and how to avoid them (see also my other posts and workshops). But he did it in a strange way. Just after my graduation I started working for a big organisation, one of those [...]
About you
You're leading a team. And you hold meetings; regular ones, occasional ones.
Meetings consume valuable time so you want to get the most out of them. You want them to energize the participants, develop your team and help you achieve your change or innovation.
About Ruben
I'm Ruben van der Laan and I'm here to make your team flow.
I coach, (re)design and lead your meetings unleashing creativity, building teams and organising expediency.
