Bring the Energy for Collaboration into Your Next Meeting
By Julie Springer
January 18, 2023
When you are busy running from meeting to meeting, while trying to make progress on your to-do list, it's easy to get caught up in feeling stressed and reactive. Obviously, this is not the best energy to bring into your next meeting.
A practice I've found to be really helpful is to do a quick check-in with myself before each meeting, to reset and make sure I'm grounded and ready to work with others. This is especially important for leaders, as your energy can set the tone for the entire room.
Try following these steps before you join your next meeting. It takes no longer than 60 seconds, but makes a big difference for your interactions, relationships, and ability to collaborate.
1. Notice Your Breathing
- Is it shallow? Fast? These are signs of stress in your body, which makes you more likely to be reactive.
- Take a few slow, deep breaths.
2. Notice Your Body
- Are you "in your head," or do you feel grounded? Where is your energy level at? Are you coming in tired, hungry or thirsty? Do you need a bio break? Are your muscles tense?
- Take care of any basic needs, and be aware of your overall physical state and how it might impact your participation.
3. Notice Your Mindset
- What beliefs, stories and expectations are you bringing into the meeting? How tightly are you holding them?
- Consider that your assumptions may not be true.
4. Notice Your Intent
- What do you hope for in this meeting? What is most important? What values do you want to reflect?
- Check your mindset against your intent and notice any gaps.
Once you have gone through these four steps, you will have certainly increased your awareness, and you may be feeling more focused and ready to collaborate. Note that it's not so much about "fixing" yourself, but taking a pause and coming into awareness of where you are at. Simply noticing will naturally move you into the energy that you want to bring into the meeting.
