What a Dinner Party Can Teach Us About Great Meetings

The staff looked at me like I was crazy. But, to be honest, that’s pretty normal. I am twice their age, so it’s not a huge surprise that my ideas don’t always resonate with them. I’ve learned that they take some of my suggestions and leave others, and that’s totally fine. But they really thought I had lost it when I interjected during staff meeting to encourage them to have one conversation at a time.

You know how it goes during staff meetings. The editor asks for story ideas. After an awkward moment of silence, a staffer offers up something that actually is more like a calendar item. This happens with a few more ideas until someone provides an actual news tip. The editor asks some follow-up questions, then the room starts buzzing with various staffers’ side conversations on the topic.

I honestly can say that this happens in every meeting I’ve ever been in, but I’ve decided it’s bad. Yes, I’ve “decided.” I write it that way because I’ve been guilty of side conversations too, but I’m really trying to break the habit.

Side conversations cause you to miss out on what others are saying. In news meeting, this means story ideas aren’t developed fully because what everyone knows or has heard isn’t being shared with the group.

I initially was introduced to the idea of one conversation on Michael Hyatt’s blog. Hyatt wrote about the hostess of a dinner party that he and his wife attended telling the group that there was “only one rule at her table.” She said: “We have one—and only one—conversation at a time.”

I thought the woman’s rule was a bit stifling at first, but the concept stuck in my mind, and I found the recommendation coming forward in a staff meeting.

Imagine how much richer ideas you share in staff meeting would be if you all had a single conversation.

Hyatt applied the one conversation rule to his staff and found that it allows everyone to be heard, honors all ideas and creates a greater connection among staffers. He also wrote that it makes everyone feel more comfortable.

Wouldn’t it be great if staffers, especially new ones, felt compelled to join a conversation instead of sitting silent, scared to pitch a new idea of their own?

It may not be easy to introduce… your staff may even look at you like you’ve lost your mind, but the one conversation rule can add real value to your staff meetings. Give it a try!

Dr. Kenna Griffin is an assistant professor of mass communications and director of student publications at Oklahoma City University. She is the author of the Prof KRG blog, which serves as a practical resource for student journalists. She is a journalist, reader, shoe lover, wife, mother of two, and the spoiler of a couple of adorable dogs.