Had a meeting today on how to have good meetings. Lots of great discussion about how to think about meetings both as the organizer and as a participant, tools to use, ways to generate good group participation. I think some participants were skeptical at first, but they seemed to warm to the topic as we moved through the agenda.  Yes, there was an agenda.  That’s Meetings 101, after all!!

It reminded me of a half day training I went to a few years ago around how to be a good listener. Listening is harder than we think sometimes – it can be exhausting in so many ways because you have to open yourself up mentally and emotionally in ways that are uncomfortable. What if we all committed for one day, or even just one meeting, to being a better listener?  I wonder what we’d get out of an effort like that.  If nothing else, I think I’d get a good night’s sleep – I’d be wiped out.