Articles

Keeping the conversation on track — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 11

Digressions happen easily, particularly so in a meeting which is going well, because that’s when people are participating actively and contributing…The trick is how to handle the digression in a...

Brainstorming — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 10

Brainstorming is improvisational, unplanned, and unstructured, and is designed to maximize the creativity…But if one doesn’t realize that brainstorming is happening, or doesn’t know the unwritten rules, it can be...

Encouraging participation — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 9

Not everyone feels comfortable speaking up in a meeting…And when cultural and language differences are added in, the situation becomes even more complicated....

Keeping a positive atmosphere in the meeting — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 8

Meetings can be the site for a variety of nonproductive, dysfunctional behaviors, such as cutting someone off, being argumentative, or making negative comments. If positive action is not taken...

Role of the timekeeper — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 7

Identifying leader makes for more effective meetings — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 6

A meeting leader’s role is to ensure that the discussion stays on track, that everyone participates, and that the outcome of the meeting is clarified...

Setting the meeting agenda — Cross-Cultural Meetings part 4

An agenda clarifies the topic of the meeting, both broadly and specific points…Once an agenda has been created, the key thing is to actually use it during the meeting. ...