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Improving town hall meetings
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If you are a senior leader, picture the last time you announced a new strategy or the occasion when you unveiled your vision for the first time. Heads nodded, people seemed like they heard and understood, but you got no push-back, no real reaction. You saved five minutes for questions at the end, but there were none so you quickly wrapped up.
How do you know if employees took away the message that you intended to send? How do you know what your people really think about your message?
Alison Davis of Davis & Company recently posted about town halls on her blog. Here's what she had to say:
"The key reason that employees are reluctant to speak out during meetings is because meetings are poorly structured to encourage interaction. A 10-minute Q&A section does not elicit participation—it shuts people down. If you really want employees to speak out, they need time (lots of it), a safe venue (breakouts, for instance, not a big crowd), and leaders who demonstrate that they welcome all kinds of feedback, including negative comments."
In situations like these, I like to use a quick & dirty method for actively engaging with the audience. After your presentation, divide participants into small groups. Ask each group to spend 5 minutes discussing each of the following questions:
- What about the strategy/vision (fill in the blank) excites you?
- What concerns you?
- What questions do you have?
Make sure that someone from each group captures the responses (either on a handout or flipchart). When time is up, spend 15 - 20 minutes listening to what people have to say. You will be amazed at how much you learn.
Looking for more on town halls? Check out my previous post, Tempted to Try a Town Hall? and Sarah McAdam's recent blog post on ragan.com, Turning the Town Hall on its Head.
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