At Willmar Electric, we run good meetings. The people who work here often say they are frustrated when they go to meetings run by outsiders.
Our meetings always start and end on time. Always. We don’t wait for anybody. Yesterday, the person who was supposed to run a meeting got hung up somewhere and wasn’t there when the meeting was supposed to start. A coworker stepped in and ran the meeting. It was easy to do because all knew the purpose of the meeting before the meeting was held.
One of the reasons our meetings go so well is we have a “meeting code of conduct.”
It says our meetings will always be:
On-time
Organized and prepared
Approachable
Focused and present
On-topic
Respectful
Engaged
Positive
And the final element is that we will assume positive intent. It can be tough. Often, our human nature assumes the worst of people.
I was recently at a meeting full of people I had never met. One of the people seemed to be what I describe as “stand-offish”. I spent the day wondering what his deal was and why he didn’t engage better at the meeting.
A few weeks later, I was asked about the group of people and what my impression was of everybody. After telling the inquiring person my impression, he explained the background of the person I had regarded as stand-offish. Once I heard their story, my understanding changed. Shame on me for not assuming positive intent.
A relationship can go sideways quickly when we don’t give others the benefit of the doubt or fail to be open enough with others to understand their perspective. The easy route is to be offended.
At times in my life, I have felt left out. Only to find out it wasn’t that others were trying to exclude me. They had simply made a mistake. Sending an email to the wrong address or losing track of time. Recently, I had to cancel an upcoming event with somebody because the date had been changed. I didn’t forget about the person. I had read the calendar wrong. It wasn’t that I was a jerk; I was stupid.
By assuming positive intent and asking people clarifying questions, I have found myself getting offended much less often. It makes life more enjoyable.
