Inevitably your organization
will encounter controversies with respect to issues or changes under consideration.
Controversy as such is not bad, but the way it is handled can determine
whether your organization will emerge from the discussions bruised and
divided, or healed, confident and united.
The following 8 ideas on managing controversies in meetings are drawn
from 3 books
by Eli Mina:
1. Contact
potentially disruptive individuals or factions prior to the meeting
and seek to address any legitimate concerns. Reassure them that the
meeting will be run fairly and ask for their support.
2. Set a constructive tone for the meeting. "The issues
to come before us today are not easy. At the same time I am confident
that - as highly dedicated individuals - we can work together, debate
the issues rationally, and reach positive outcomes for the organization
that we all love".
3. Remind members of the organization's mandate and values. Do
so at the start of the meeting. Do so again if things become heated.
"It would be helpful to remind ourselves of our mission statement,
which says: ____. It behooves us to ask ourselves: Are we on track right
now?"
4. Introduce guidelines at the start of the meeting and have
them approved by the members: "Speak when recognized by the
facilitator, focus on issues and not people, maintain civility and decorum".
5. See if contentious proposals can be modified (without compromising
fundamental principles) to address valid concerns and integrate constructive
suggestions.
6. Intervene decisively if members are disruptive: "Would
you please focus on the issues and not the personalities?"
"Can you give others the same respect that you want when you
are speaking?"
7. Use affirmative language to convert criticisms into needs
and interests. Instead of "You sound unhappy with our leadership"
say "You seem to be suggesting that we could be more inclusive
and better tuned to the needs of the stakeholders that we serve".
8. Make the room setup conducive to collaboration. Example: Replace
parallel rows with round tables and see if you can break adversarial
patterns by mixing the group's various factions.
Eli Mina is a professional meeting chairman, Registered Parliamentarian,
seminar leader, and a leading expert on meetings and rules of order.
He specializes in chairing contentious meetings, demystifying and humanizing
the rules of order, resolving organizational disputes, and shared decision
making. Further explore Eli's website for more details on Eli's
work and his
books. To sign up for his free e-mail newsletter, click
here.
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