{"id":29207,"date":"2019-04-19T15:12:31","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T22:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chiefofstaff.expert\/do-i-need-a-pmp-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-01-27T16:26:42","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T00:26:42","slug":"sound-of-silence-silent-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chiefofstaff.expert\/staging\/sound-of-silence-silent-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sound of Silence: Do Silent Meetings Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

April 19, 2019<\/p>\n

The Sound of Silence: Do Silent Meetings Work?
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Seems like every week you hear about another organization who uses so-called \u201csilent meetings,\u201d in which people are given time for a silent reading, in each meeting<\/em>, of materials that frame the discussion. There\u2019s the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Jeff Bezos 6-page memo<\/a>. Plus, the chief of staff community\u2019s own Brian Rumao highlights the silent read-through among other pre-and-post-meeting tactics at LinkedIn<\/a>. Lila McLellan wrote about The Rise of the Silent Meeting<\/a> over at Quartz in October.<\/p>\n

So, a while back I started asking chiefs of staff — in organizations who use a 6-page memo or similar silent meeting method \u2013 what do you love about it and what are the challenges with it? Some common themes emerged across these conversations about the advantages and disadvantages of the silent meeting:<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Advantages<\/strong><\/td>\nDisadvantages<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Solves the problem of people not having time to read the materials in advance of the meeting. They can\u2019t say they didn\u2019t read it or understand the context.<\/td>\nOnly people with high processing speeds can digest that much data quickly, the first time they see it, and be able to apply it in a context-appropriate manner. \u201cRuminators\u201d who take time to process information get left behind.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Knowledge lives on in perpetuity in the document \u2013 the memo itself, wherever it is stored \u2013 and doesn\u2019t disappear with the presenter.<\/td>\nTakes 1\/3 of your meeting time, and depending on the topic(s) you might not always see a return on that time.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Levels the playing field, to a degree. Most people are seeing the material for the first time, rather than one person or a coalition coming in as experts and others knowing little or nothing about the subject. Only the author of the memo knows more than anyone else.<\/td>\nA succinct format like a 6-page memo doesn\u2019t prevent people from attaching 20 pages of \u201cappendix\u201d material, which either means a lot of context has been lost in the summarizing of it or, even it is well summarized to keep salient points, the additional materials offer opportunities for sidebar\/rabbit hole\/off-focus discussion.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Additionally, I heard variations on the following tips:<\/p>\n