Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

1. Read the following quotes about business meetings by

different people and discuss them. Do you agree with them or

“The majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to

decisions.” (Patrick Lencioni, author of business books)
not? Why?

2. Discuss the questions.

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human
“Meetings should have as few people as possible, but all the
race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential,
right people.” (Charles W. Scharf, investment banker)
that word would be 'meetings.'” (Dave Barry, writer)
 How often do you participate in meetings at work?
 How useful and relevant are they?
 Would you say that meetings usually solve the problems
that are being discussed?

“A manager's ability to turn meetings into a thinking

environment is probably an organization's greatest asset.”

3. Brainstorm some of the most common problems you usually

encounter in meetings and write them down.
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

4. Watch the first part of the video (to 00:41).

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVXe3Lr_sQ] and
underline problems that are mentioned.
• Meeting length
• Domination of only one person
• Lack of clarity or purpose
• Pressure to conform to boss’ ideas
• Lack of preparation
• Meeting goes off-topic
• Technical problems
• Checking out

5. Match the following collocations/idiomatic expressions.

a) time- 4 1) the boat

b) gather 5 2) idea
c) a novel 2 3) blocking
d) production 3 4) honored
e) stray 6 5) around the table
f) rock 1 6) off course

6. Use the collocations from the previous task to complete the

sentences. In some cases, you will have to chance the form of
the word.
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

a) This neighborhood has many time-honored

factories that have existed for decades and have become a
symbol of the town.
b) On a yesterday’s meeting, Tim was talking about his idea,
but no one was able to provide their own creative input
because they suffered from production blocking.
c) Sometimes the most challenging part of a meeting is to
gather people around the table considering the fact that
many of them are always on business trips.

d) Rumors about downsizing in the company created anxiety

and really rocked the boat.
e) When Ruth started talking about her holiday, our
conversation completely strayed off course and we did not
have enough time to solve our problem.
f) Everyone thinks that the new manager is very imaginative
because he came up with some novel ideas that should
bring positive changes to the company.

7. Match the words to their meanings.

a host of circumvent convention

a) a common or usually accepted way of behaving convention

b) to produce or create generate
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

c) a very large number or collection of people or

things a host of
d) the opinion about yourself ego
e) the action of forming ideas ideation
f) to manage to overcome a problem or a difficulty circumvent

8. Now watch the whole video and use the words from the task 7
to complete the sentences. In some cases, you might need to
change the form of the words.
A traditional meeting often gets the job done, but it usually
leads to a host of problems. If the goal of a meeting is to
brainstorm or solve a problem, silent meetings have been
shown to generate better ideas. Solutions to problems are
usually novel ideas and they challenge convention.
Silent meetings circumvent negative effects of something
called production blocking. When organizing a silent meeting,
the key is to get the initial ideation phase happen
independently and in silence so that one can separate ego(s)
from ideas.

9. Now answer the questions about the video.

 In which situations have silent meetings proved to be better
compared to traditional meetings? If the goal of a meeting
is to brainstorm or solve a problem, silent meetings have
been shown to generate better ideas [00:57-0:01]
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

 Why do solutions to a problem often lead to

embarrassment and feeling of anxiety? Solutions to
problems are usually novel ideas (new ideas) and as such,
they rock the boat and challenge convention. [01:06-01:14]
 What is a safe space in this context and why is it
important? A safe space is a situation in which people do
not have fear of feeling embarrassed when sharing their
ideas. Considering the fact that solutions to problems
usually challenge convention, sometimes people do not
have enough courage to say what they want. It is important
because when people are relaxed, they can come up with
novel ideas. [01:15-01:26]
 Describe the problem of production blocking and explain
how silent meetings solve it. In a traditional meeting, only
one person at a time can speak. While you are waiting, the
conversation might shift direction and you lose your
opportunity to say something. In silent meetings, everyone
can express their ideas at the same time. [01:30-01:47]
 What are steps in conducting a silent meeting? Firstly,
people write down their ideas independently. Then you sort
them into clusters, discuss and vote on the ideas that
people like the most. [01:52-02:01]
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

10. Organize the following words/expressions in two

categories: are they typical of traditional or silent meeting?
Afterwards, use as many words as possible to describe silent

alternative brainstorming
circumvent convention embarrassment
and fear novel ideas production blocking rock the
boat safe space
meetings.

Traditional meetings Silent meetings

embarrassment and fear alternative

(convention) brainstorming
production blocking circumvent
straying off course (convention)
time-honored format novel ideas
rock the boat
safe space

[Example]
Silent meetings are alternatives to time-honored format of
traditional meetings. Unlike traditional meetings that are
 Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.

characterized by talking, the most distinguishing

feature of silent meetings is- silence. They have been shown
as better alternatives in cases when people have to
brainstorm or solve a problem. Due to the fact that novel ideas
usually challenge convention and rock the boat, people might
have feelings of embarrassment and fear to say their opinion.
Silent meetings solve that problem by creating safe space.

They also circumvent the problem of production blocking by

allowing everyone to express themselves simultaneously.

11. Organize your own silent meeting! Follow the steps of

organizing a silent meeting from the video (see below) and try
to put it into practice in your own company. You can start with
something simple. Here is the list of ideas, but you can come

Team building Ideas for

ideas upcoming events

up with your own ideas.

1. People write their ideas independently

2. Sort ideas into clusters

Educational Offer of food and

courses ideas beverages in the
office
3. Discuss
4. Vote on the ideas people like
Solution to unproductive meetings? Silence.