Effective Meetings: Mining Group Gold

Cynthia D. Chavez
Introduction to Business & Technology

Abstract Team meetings and group projects are common place in many organizations. Organization within those meetings is crucial to how well they run and how productive they are. There are a few approaches to getting meetings or group sessions to run smoothly. One approach focuses on getting the most out of the collaborative power of the group participants. This paper will address that method referred to as Mining Group Gold.

It’s A Process Everyone is familiar with the phrase two heads are better than one, and in most companies many heads coming together on a project or in a meeting is invaluable. Getting group participants to cooperate and collectively contribute ideas as well as share their opinions of their colleagues’ ideas without fear of overreaction or being ignored yields meeting successes and is a positive approach that promotes collaboration. Like any well-structured approach to something, there are several steps involved in the successful mining of gold from any particular group.
Preparation
The first step in the process is preparation. To be fully prepared there are five areas to address. First, the purpose of the meeting must be determined. Second, there must be a clear understanding of the expected outcomes. When participants arrive, there should be no question what the goal of the meeting is, and when it ends there should be an understanding of what goals were reached and which weren’t. Third, it is necessary to assign the key roles for the meeting. These roles include the facilitator- the person who runs the meeting, the scribe- the person who keeps the record of the discussion and maintains notes, and the timekeeper- the person who keeps the meeting on track and makes the facilitator aware of the progress of the meeting. The fourth thing to do in preparation is set an agenda, and finally it is important to know what needs to be covered and allocate the appropriate amount of time to achieve the desired outcomes. (Kayser, Tuch, 1992)
Facilitation
The leader’s guide to the Mining Group Gold learning video describes the facilitator as an individual whose purpose is to assist the group in liberating themselves from challenges and pursue the collective goals more efficiently and effectively. (Kayser, Tuch, 1992) The guide goes on to describe how the facilitator’s purpose is to advance the participants of the meeting with three principals; 1) to develop and atmosphere conducive to the promotion of achieving the desired goals, 2) to ensure all information shared is understood and that the environment promotes sharing and avoids misunderstandings, and 3) dispel any obstacles which may be hindering the progress of the meeting. (Kayser, Tuch, 1992) Effective Meetings, put out by Oregon at work, makes a great point in their presentation about effective meetings and the mining gold approach. It states that the facilitator needs to get the group to take stake in the process and that the primary facilitator actually acts in dual capacity because they too are an active participant in providing ideas and advancing the progress of the meeting.
Scribe/Timekeeper
The scribe and the timekeeper are important roles in this process because they promote order and aid in avoiding misunderstandings. The Scribe takes notes of the meeting and maintains the written record. The Scribe is also supposed to listen to everything that is happening. The timekeeper is responsible for keeping the facilitator on point and the meeting on time. The timekeeper reviews the agenda and allotted times for each topic and lets the facilitator know ahead of time what changes need to be made. (Kayser, Tuch, 1992)
Open/Collaborative Climate The fourth step in the process is to create, promote and maintain a meeting environment that is open and a level field for idea sharing and collaboration. There are several subcategories to this step. As a general rule all participants should remain objective and not let their contributions be tainted or skewed by their personal feelings or emotions for any reason. The group should avoid interrupting and keep any bias in check. The facilitator should periodically check for understanding, especially in any event where it was necessary to restate someone’s personal feelings. All participants should share their knowledge with the group but resist the temptation to influence the group and sway opinions. Group members should be encouraged to contribute with questions from the facilitator or other group members and feel like it is a safe place to share ideas. (Kayser, Tuch, 1992)
Handle Emotions The final of the five steps is to handle emotions. The basic construct for handling emotions for mining group gold is feelings, facts and solutions. Feelings refers to accepting, acknowledging, and processing feelings of group members in a structured way so the group can move past feelings and on to facts. Facts refers to the development of objectively identified facts that are used by group members to recognize and consider any problems and find solutions. Solutions refers to having group members use their problem solving skills to identify solutions and choose the best one to implement after it has been fully evaluated. (Effective Meetings)
How To Deal With Emotions As mentioned above, it is occasionally necessary to handle emotions in a group setting, and to do so in a way that does not hinder the progression of the meeting. The process of feelings, facts and solutions is accomplished through a few steps. The facilitator, or a secondary facilitator if the primary is the person with the emotions, stops the meeting at the heated point and has participants write down what they are feeling. During this time the group is taking a moment of quiet time to reflect on what they are writing down. After the short silent break the primary or secondary facilitator will invite the participants to share what they wrote down. Once the feelings are shared, they are summarized with the goal of ensuring comprehension by all participants. The leader’s guide for the learning video suggests that the group is reassured through visual representations, such as a flip chart, that all feelings have been heard and understood, or at least accepted, by the group members. (Kayser, Tuch 1992)
Benefits of Mining Group Gold
This approach to meetings can be very beneficial and result in productive meetings where all parties involved leave with an understanding of what goals were trying to be reached, whether or not they were reached, and a feeling that everyone had an equal opportunity to share their ideas with the group. Knowing that your opinion will not be overlooked, knowing that your feelings about a decision will be heard is greatly empowering because you have a voice and your company will hear you. Mining group gold somewhat evens the playing field for team members at the level of idea contribution. Every member of the team has an equal say in the proceedings, whether or not the team chooses to use a particular idea, all ideas are heard and discussed. This will encourage everyone to share their ideas, whereas in a meeting that does not use this method participants may feel their idea would be ignored, so why bother to share it. The importance of sharing feelings probably isn’t something that is often considered when planning a meeting. I think by addressing emotions in the way the mining group gold method does, strengthens the communication in the group and promotes better communication in future meetings and in general.

References
Unknown Author (n.d) Oregon Values at Work, Effective Meetings- Part 1 Fundamentals Retrieved on October 11, 2014 from http://library.state.or.us/services/training/DAS_Training_Materials/Files/EffectiveMeetingsPart1TheFundamentals.pdf
Introduction to Business Week 6 Lecture
Carol Kayser, Larry Tauch, B.A. (1992) CRM Films, LLP Leader’s Guide to the CRM Video: Mining Group Gold CRM Films, LLP Retrieved October 11, 2014 from http://www.workplacesaetyvideos.com/product_files/P/MiningGroupGoldLG.pdf