The 20% Meeting
When a team is searching for ideas or a new approach to problems, they often turn to techniques like brainstorming or mind-mapping. These are good techniques, but they have some limitations that show up in the typical meeting.
In many meetings today, about 20% of the participants are actually participating — making observations, answering questions, and building on others’ comments. The remaining 80% are sitting back, possibly even scrolling their phones. It can feel like a waste of time, but we may be resigned to thinking that a “20% meeting” is all that’s possible. However … what if you could hold a facilitated 100% meeting, where all of the participants are 100% engaged? It’s possible, with a “leaning forward” facilitation method called Lego® Serious Play®.
My Lego® Serious Play® Journey
I’ve been interested in the Lego® Serious Play® method for 20 years, and the timing was finally right to become certified in the method. I completed the four-day, 40-hour course in Pittsburgh, PA.
What I learned is, when adults are fully engaged in building something with little colorful pieces of plastic, and they have the opportunity to talk about what they’ve built — all in a structured, facilitated manner — wonderful things happen. Amazing depth of insight, new ideas, teamwork, conceptual understanding, and commitment to implementation was possible, even with groups of people who had just met each other.
And … don’t let the colorful little blocks fool you. Lego® Serious Play® seems playful and fun, and it is, but the emphasis is on working through scenarios to surface unseen assumptions and solve business problems faster.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with several groups using Lego® Serious Play® and have seen first-hand the remarkable effects that a 100% meeting where everyone is building and debriefing, can have on a team and organization. So, I’m ready to roll out my version of Lego® Serious Play® with everything I bring as a management professor, consultant, human resources professional, volunteer, and human who wants to see organizations succeed at the good work they do.
Your Lego® Serious Play® Journey
So…
you’re thinking about holding a meeting with employees to ask their opinions on the new benefits options. And you want to hear from everyone
Or …
you’re meeting with a group of employees who are thinking about taking the first step into a management career, and you’d like to determine interest and readiness
Or …
you’re in charge of developing your organization’s strategic plan and you want to incorporate everyone’s thinking
Or …
you want to get to the root of a business problem that has hung around way too long
The first step is a conversation about what you see and what you may need, and if Lego® Serious Play® is part of that solution for you.
Call Team Development Services at 717-805-6935 to get things rolling.
Or email Dr. Janet McNally at jmcnally@teamdevs.com.
The Other Parts of Team Development Services
I’ve spent a lot of the last 25 years in developing training and becoming certified in assessments and techniques that help organizations to achieve their goals. These include:
A multi-session leadership program for managers and those aspiring to management.
Everything DiSC© assessments and training. I can procure DiSC assessments for your organization from the publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc,, and also can lead debriefing sessions with your employees so that you get the most out of this experience.
Compensation studies to determine your position in a competitive labor market.
PXT Select™ assessments from the publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc., an online assessment that you ask job candidates to take as part of your hiring process. Behind the scenes, we work together to establish a job profile of the thinking style, behavioral traits, and interests of the person you want in the job. When the candidate’s profile is matched with your ideal job profile, you have a very realistic preview of how well that candidate matches up to the job you’re hiring for.
Contact Team Development Services
Janet McNally, D.Ed. SPHR
Janet is an Assistant Teaching Professor in Management at Penn State Abington. She is a member and on the board of Lancaster SHRM (local chapter in Lancaster, PA.). Dr. McNally is also a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Non-Profit Organizations (PANO) Consultant Collaborative. Through PANO, she is a Standards for Excellence Pennsylvania Licensed Consultant.