A Most Engaging Meeting
Last night, I had a meeting with some of the leaders in the Adults Ministry. We had only one agenda: to work on the new proposed BGR guideline. We met very intensely for over 3 hours.
To begin with, this was not an easy walk-in-the-park kind of proposal to work on. There were many considerations and principles to consider. Moreover, most of the people were also very passionate of their views on this matter as well.
As I reflected, there were few learnings points for me on why the meeting was possibly engaging and enjoyable.
Firstly, it was a level playing field where everyone was a stakeholder of the discussion. Every one was participative. There was no “hierarchal” kind of sentiments; be it real or perceived. Everyone in the meeting could and should contribute to the discussion. Every view and comment was welcome.
Secondly, no discussion, question or comment on the topic was off limits. There was nothing that we could not talk about openly. In meetings, we sometimes avoid certain issues that every one knows about but no one wants to talk about. It could be due to the fear of rocking the status quo too much, making some people uncomfortable, offending some people or being "blacklisted". The drawbacks would be the lack of progress and that real issues that needed to be discussed never get to be touched on.
Thirdly, the atmosphere was respectful and kind. Although the discussion were animated and pointed at times, the spirit was kind. It was issue-focused and not personal. There was a distinction between the ideas and views of the person versus the person. No one should feel devalued when their ideas and views were scrutinized or “attacked upon”. In fact, there was a healthy atmosphere where we laughed at ourselves too.
I am sure if I would to put my thoughts to it, there should be more learning points for me to glean.
Meeting is such a large part of many of our working and ministry life. The honest truth is that most of the meetings that we lead or sit in are less than engaging. I would be the first to plead guilty to leading many disengaging and unfruitful meetings. I want to do better in this department of my life.
At this moment, I am spending some time to learn from the book “Death By Meeting”. If you have read or learn from it, I would appreciate you sharing your ideas with me.
By the way, the guideline is still in the works. We want to be comprehensive in our coverage and rigorous in our guiding principles.
To begin with, this was not an easy walk-in-the-park kind of proposal to work on. There were many considerations and principles to consider. Moreover, most of the people were also very passionate of their views on this matter as well.
As I reflected, there were few learnings points for me on why the meeting was possibly engaging and enjoyable.
Firstly, it was a level playing field where everyone was a stakeholder of the discussion. Every one was participative. There was no “hierarchal” kind of sentiments; be it real or perceived. Everyone in the meeting could and should contribute to the discussion. Every view and comment was welcome.
Secondly, no discussion, question or comment on the topic was off limits. There was nothing that we could not talk about openly. In meetings, we sometimes avoid certain issues that every one knows about but no one wants to talk about. It could be due to the fear of rocking the status quo too much, making some people uncomfortable, offending some people or being "blacklisted". The drawbacks would be the lack of progress and that real issues that needed to be discussed never get to be touched on.
Thirdly, the atmosphere was respectful and kind. Although the discussion were animated and pointed at times, the spirit was kind. It was issue-focused and not personal. There was a distinction between the ideas and views of the person versus the person. No one should feel devalued when their ideas and views were scrutinized or “attacked upon”. In fact, there was a healthy atmosphere where we laughed at ourselves too.
I am sure if I would to put my thoughts to it, there should be more learning points for me to glean.
Meeting is such a large part of many of our working and ministry life. The honest truth is that most of the meetings that we lead or sit in are less than engaging. I would be the first to plead guilty to leading many disengaging and unfruitful meetings. I want to do better in this department of my life.
At this moment, I am spending some time to learn from the book “Death By Meeting”. If you have read or learn from it, I would appreciate you sharing your ideas with me.
By the way, the guideline is still in the works. We want to be comprehensive in our coverage and rigorous in our guiding principles.
posted by Jeff Chong at 8:48 am
9 Comments:
Your meetings are okay, I have a strong believe that I lead the most boring meetings in the world. Not just saying it. Really...a group once told me that if I serve some of my cheesecakes in my meetings then people will all come.. I almost renamed my leadership meeting, "cheesecake meet"!
Therefore, I always know that enthusiastic effort is required for any meeting to be fun, engaging and add value to others.
Well..juz a fleeting thot.. to announce it at Valentines this year would be certainly a blast...
hahaha
Hi JX, like i say, still in the works. Would not be on time for VD :)
Ps Jeff's meetings r boring? That's very hard to imagine? haha...
oh no...i became one of the loyal reads of this blog. lol
Hahaha... On our BLM core meet on the same night same time as Adult's Meeting, we were laughing over how we've digressed! The hot topic over the dinner table was BGR issues!
haha Felix.... hope you enjoy reading the blog.
Sandy,glad to know that you were sharing your prayer reuqest during the BLM dinner :)
Wahahaha Ps Jeff, you good ah! Sabo me! :p
Eagerly anticipating the new BGR guidelines.. Hope that they will make it easier and not even more difficult for us to get attached... In this book called 'Choosing God's Best', the writer says at page 208: "Although courtship is based on concrete biblical principles, one caution must be added. Don't be legalistic . Don't get out of balance by turning the courtship PRINCIPLES into courtship RULES. God created us each as individual and unique, therefore, every courtship will be different and unique... God led each couple down a different lane from acquaintance to marriage. Just keep your eyes on Jesus and let your focus be relational, not rigid rules."
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