Are your internal meetings battlegrounds?

Are your internal meetings leaving everyone frustrated? Do you get into polite battles of entrenched positions instead of collaborating to find solutions?

I've both seen and lived this in countless organisations: Steeling yourself before a team meeting because you 'know' there's going to be differences of opinion. The urge to defend-and-question what someone else comes up with. The escalation as the originator of each idea finds fault with the other and no good solution is in sight.

Sometimes the 'battle' is subtle and very polite, but it is there nonetheless. I've certainly done my fair share of questioning and getting into defensive mode. Have you?

Here's the thing: If you're all in the same organisation, you're ideally striving towards the same goal. If you can work together and find what you've got in common, the solution you come up with will be that much stronger, and you can reduce frustration and stress.

It starts with moving away from reactive 'yes, but' interactions, towards curious openness where you focus on what's good about what others suggest. Once you've identified and verbalised that, build on it your own additions, questions and suggestions. Then, they're more likely to be heard. You can catch sight of the common foundation that's greater than the differences you've focused on so far. After all, you're on the same team.

What are your choices around how to show up to a meeting?