How to lead a culturally intelligent meeting

 

When I ask people how they feel about meetings, there seems to be a collective sigh. Regardless of our culture, region, or industry, we seem to agree that there are far too many meetings in our lives. Here are a few statistics that might explain our meeting fatigue:

• The average employee attends 62 meetings a month, a 13 percent increase since pre-Covid.
• 92 percent of employees consider meetings costly and unproductive.
• The more senior your role, the more time you spend in meetings.

 

Many experts offer solutions to address the explosion of ineffective meetings. But the ideas are largely oriented toward the Western world. I have enormous respect for HR guru Josh Bersin, but his meeting advice is, “You can skip the niceties…just discuss the issue, then hang up.” That sounds great to me but it doesn’t align with the values of more than 70 percent of the world who value relationships and connection over task. A seminal study done on the benefits of meeting-free days acknowledged that the vast majority of data surrounding good meeting practice comes from surveying workers in the US and UK, a mere 4.8 percent of the world. However, there are a couple ways we can apply the research on cultural intelligence to leading more effective meetings with diverse groups.

Why have a meeting?

Leading a culturally intelligent meeting begins with understanding the diversity of perspectives surrounding the purpose of meetings. Here are a few examples:

US: A meeting is usually meant to gather information and input from the participants. Individuals are expected to come prepared to compare and constructively analyze the alternatives. In this context, Bersin’s advice is spot-on. “Skip the niceties.”

Japan: A meeting is meant to publicly confirm decisions made in smaller groups. The participants explore alternatives just as thoroughly as their US counterparts but by doing so in private before the meeting, they save face (and time!).

Mexico: The meeting is meant to build relationships and trust. Once you trust someone, decision-making is relatively easy and fast.

Netherlands: The meeting is meant to identify all the weaknesses and criticisms of a particular approach. There’s little need to spend time talking about what’s good.

These are crass stereotypes that overlook many variations that exist in each national context but the point is, your culture and your work experience shape your expectations about why you’re even having a meeting in the first place. With an increasingly diverse, hybrid workforce, explicitly stating the purpose of a meeting is a critical starting point.

A Culturally Intelligent Meeting

For in-tact teams, a meeting is a microcosm of the team culture. Observe the interactions and dynamics that occur during the meeting and you get a sense of how much psychological safety, trust, and intellectual honesty exists on the team. But there are a few specific things a culturally intelligent leader can do to ensure a meeting is more inclusive, effective, and maybe even enjoyable!

BEFORE

• Be explicit about the purpose and expectations. Any group benefits from clarification about a meeting’s purpose and agenda but as I just demonstrated above, it’s critical for diverse teams. Let people know how to prepare for the meeting. If input is expected from everyone, state that upfront. Sometimes I send a one-minute video ahead of time to explain the purpose of the meeting.

• Don’t mix in-person and remote meetings. Few things erode inclusion more than some people sitting in the same room for a meeting while others join remotely. For the remote participants, it often feels like you’re listening in on a conversation you’re not really part of. When possible, have everyone join the meeting the same way, in-person or remote—even if that means people at the same office are calling in from their respective work stations.

• Rotate inconvenient meeting times. It’s easy to default to scheduling meetings at times that work for the most people or for headquarters. But it goes a long way to share who has to join early in the morning or late at night. And it also might make you think twice about scheduling another meeting when you consider the inconvenience it creates.

 

DURING

• Nurture social connections. One benefit of meetings is a chance for human interaction—particularly for those working remotely. Find creative ways to build in some opportunities for human connection without consuming too much time for those who are very task oriented.

• Actively facilitate participation. Perhaps the hardest task is dynamically leading the meeting itself. If you’re a seasoned leader, you may be used to walking into a meeting without having done anything to prepare. But the more diversity in the group, the more critical it is that you anticipate how to best accomplish the purpose of the meeting given the topic, participants, and surrounding circumstances. That will empower you to be fully present while facilitating discussion. Culturally intelligent facilitation includes:
  • Enforce any team norms that have been established ahead of time (e.g., cameras on, no multi-tasking, everyone comes prepared, or whatever the team has agreed to).
  • Manage the discussion so that the people with the most power and status speak after others have contributed.
  • Create adequate time for introverts, non-native speakers, neurodivergent team members and others to have the space to process information and provide input.
  • Offer a variety of ways for individuals to share their input (small groups, written, spoken, etc.)
  • Address biases and microaggressions when they occur. If someone shares an idea that someone else already voiced, be sure to acknowledge who offered it originally.
• Amplify perspective differences. Minimize interpersonal differences. Avoid groupthink by zooming in on the different perspectives, even if you don’t personally agree with some of them. Link the differences back to the shared purpose of the group and the meeting as a unifying goal to minimize the interpersonal differences that can emerge from disagreement.

 

AFTER

• Circulate a written summary of decisions and action steps. People from different backgrounds and functions may have different understandings of what was discussed. Summarizing your interpretation of the meeting helps ensure shared understanding.

• Ensure alignment around meeting summary. Explicitly ask each individual to review the summary and to share any differences from their understanding of the meeting. Don’t assume that no response to the summary means agreement. Explicitly solicit feedback from those who are less likely to voice a different perspective.

• Check-in individually as needed. Pay attention to how the meeting impacted each individual. Specifically reflect on how marginalized groups, non-native speakers, or other underrepresented groups engaged. Don’t assume someone was offended by a comment but do find ways to check-in.

 

Meetings aren’t going to go away, nor should they. I’m a big proponent for eliminating unnecessary meetings and having meeting free days. But meetings are a critical part of leveraging diversity and promoting the magic that happens when we work together. By applying cultural intelligence, meetings become both more strategic and they become an opportunity to nurture the bonds and connections we long for in our increasingly fragmented, autonomous lives.

[The new edition of Leading with Cultural Intelligence, releasing on 17 September, includes these kinds of practical leadership guidelines along with an entire chapter devoted to leading culturally intelligent teams. Join me on launch day to learn more about the new edition.]

 

View more articles from David Livermore

David Livermore, PhD (Michigan State University) is a social scientist devoted to the topics of cultural intelligence (CQ) and global leadership and the author of several award-winning books, including Leading with Cultural Intelligence, Driven by Difference, and Serving with Eyes Wide Open. His newest book, Digital, Diverse & Divided, addresses one of the most pressing issues of our day–how to overcome polarization in our personal and professional relationships.