Balancing Group Focus and Relationship Building

A friend of mine recently asked me how to keep his staff meetings more focused. He said, "Someone will announce that they are attending a conference in Boston and ask if anyone else is interested in going. Then someone else will say, 'Where in Boston?' They'll reply, 'In the North End'. Someone else will say, 'Oh, there is a great restaurant in the North End'. And pretty soon there is a conversation about Italian food, and coffee shops. When I try to keep them focused, he said, "they say, 'This is the only time we have to have these conversations.'"

It is hard to do work with a group that does not want to work. What I suggested to my friend is that he try having a social time before each meeting, so that people can get the socializing out of their systems and focus on work during the meeting. While our highly productive culture does not put much value on relationship building, good working relationships are the main reason people either stay at, or leave jobs.

Studies have shown that the highest functioning groups will spend 70 percent of their time working on tasks or content, 15 percent of their time talking about the process they are using to accomplish their tasks, and 15 percent of their time maintaining relationships. So while focus is important, nurturing relationships is also an important aspect of creating Great Meetings.

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