The Science of Church Meetings (including Ward Council) | An Interview with Steven Rogelberg

This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in February 2020.
Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg is a professor of Organizational Science,
Management, and Psychology at UNC Charlotte. The author of The
Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak
Performance, he is a distinguished scholar addressing issues such
as team effectiveness, leadership, engagement, health and employee
well-being, meetings at work, and organizational research methods.
The book is a culmination of 15 years of research and thousands of
surveys and interviews. It’s a collection of evidence-based
insights and represents a strategic approach that leaders and
organizations can take that’s highly practical and accessible, but
also strongly based in science. In this interview, Steve talks with
Kurt about applying the insights from his book to improving
meetings in the Church environment. This presentation of this
episode was originally included in the Meetings With Saints Virtual
Conference, which is now part of the Core Leader Library. Links The
Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak
Performance StevenRogelberg.com There is already a discussion
started about this podcast. Share your thoughts. Watch on YouTube
Read the transcript of this podcast Get 14-day access to the Core
Leader Library Highlights 5:00 We know one thing but tend to do a
different thing, but there is no formula for meeting success.
Instead the key is making good choices, which is more
empowering.7:00 Steve’s experience with members of the Church8:15
The cost of meetings is underestimated11:00 Being self-aware as a
meeting leader: stewardship and making changes13:40 Things to
reflect on that are signs that there needs to be improvement14:30
Start with a quick survey, then work on the little things and
assess later17:00 Talking as the leader vs. leading the
discussion20:00 Transparency and honesty allows you to lead from
the back or the front in a genuine way21:10 Three phases of the
meeting: planning/designing, facilitating, and post-meeting
activity21:50 Planning a meeting is not time consuming and has a
high return on investment23:45 Taking a “pre-mortem” moment before
the meeting25:00 Agendas are a hollow crutch: what matters most is
what is on that agenda and how it is facilitated Frame the agenda
as a set of questions to be answered Allow other people to
different agenda items Put the most important/compelling issues
first 30:10 Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill whatever time is
allotted How much time should it take? Dial it back a bit and
create time pressure Volunteer time is a precious gift: build trust
by respecting it 35:00 Combating minutiae in meetings by making
meeting time incredibly purposeful38:00 Councils and update
meetings What is a good update? Decide and then put people on the
clock Silent updates via a shared document 41:20 Silence in a
meeting is a way of engaging people44:25 Technology in a meeting:
multitasking is a symptom of a bad meeting Keep meeting minutes in
real time on the screen instead of a powerpoint People focused on
their phones is actually feedback 47:00 Avoiding the meeting that
should have been an email Recording your voice with the message you
want to give and sending it out Start the meeting with questions
about the message(s) you sent out 49:30 Presentations in meetings:
have the person write their ideas in a document, then discuss it in
the meeting51:30 Where to find his book and research on the science
of meetings The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top
independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading
Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to
lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at
LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David
Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz
Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox,