How to Support Different Working Styles in Meetings

Meetings are the norm in the workplace, but what happens when different working styles clash and derail the meeting's productivity? Add diversity and inclusion to the mix, and the need for support in accommodating different working styles becomes even more critical!

In this article, we'll explore how you can create inclusive meeting environments that support diverse working styles to foster collaboration and productivity.

Create inclusive meetings for diverse work styles

Companies often talk about diversity in terms of things like age, race, gender, and nationality, but they often forget about other important things like how people work and communicate. If you don't support different styles of work and communication, you might miss out on the unique strengths of your employees.

Let's illustrate this with an example.

Ensure inclusion goes beyond diversity

While diversity and inclusion are often lumped together, they are significantly different sides of the same coin:

• Diversity comes from without, based on the traits of the people you hire.
• Inclusion stems from within, based on the organization and the structures it has in place to facilitate equitable interaction.

This means you can raise your diversity profile by hiring people of different races, physical abilities, religious affirmations, or socioeconomic status, but if people still feel marginalized, alienated, or psychologically unsafe in your organization you will never reap the full benefits of a diverse workforce.

This is why we strongly assert that diversity fails without inclusion. It's time for another example!

Identify different working styles in the workplace

Carson Tate, the productivity consultant and author, has identified four distinct working styles that can help you understand your own work preferences and optimize your productivity. Understanding these styles can also help in communication and collaboration with colleagues who have different styles. Tate's four working styles are:

1. Prioritizers prefer to work on tasks that are important and urgent. They like to work with clear deadlines and schedules and tend to focus on the outcome rather than the process. Paula, for example, would likely tackle a client report that's due in two days before starting work on a long-term project with a less pressing deadline.
   
   
2. Planners like to have a clear plan or structure before beginning a task. They like to outline the steps and timeline for a project and tend to focus on the process rather than the outcome. Peter, for instance, insists on creating a detailed project plan with deadlines and milestones before starting work on a new project.
   
   
3. Arrangers want to have a balance between structure and flexibility. They like to have a framework or outline for a task, but are comfortable adjusting and adapting as needed. Angela, for example, likes to have a general plan for a team project but will be open to adjusting it based on team members' feedback and input.
   
   
4. Visualizers choose to work on tasks that allow for creativity and imagination. They like to see the big picture and tend to focus on the outcome rather than the process. Vincent, for instance, would rather spend his time brainstorming the company's new branding strategy instead of manually updating a spreadsheet.
   

By identifying different working styles beforehand, a team composed of a prioritizer, planner, arranger, and visualizer can work together by leveraging their strengths and finding a balance between urgency, structure, flexibility, and creativity to achieve the best outcome for the project. Here's how:

Promote different working styles in the workplace

A practical approach to supporting different work styles in the workplace is to encourage everyone, from managers to employees, to create their own personal user manuals. These manuals outline their preferred methods of working and communication, helping to promote a more inclusive and collaborative workplace.

Our whitepaper, Diversity Fails Without Inclusion, provides a user manual template that can help kickstart your efforts, containing information such as:

• My working style
• What frustrates me
• How to best communicate with me
• How I like to be appreciated

Sharing different working styles can create collaborative work environments. Team members can understand and appreciate each other's strengths and challenges, leading to honest conversations about personal preferences, work styles, and anxieties. This ultimately builds trust and a stronger sense of teamwork within the group.

The next step is to ensure that each working style is represented on every project and team, covering each other’s blind spots and providing unique contributions. For example, if a committee has too many prioritizers, it may miss the broader context of why the committee was created in the first place!

Support different communication styles in meetings

Effective workplace communication is essential to establish a positive company culture. Being mindful of how we communicate with our colleagues can significantly impact their sense of inclusion and value. After all, failure to recognize and appreciate diverse communication styles can result in an unproductive and exclusive environment.

Ignoring different communication styles can lead to miscommunication, a costly problem that can set large companies back by $62.4 million a year and smaller businesses by $420,000 a year! How can we prevent this?> Acknowledging and supporting communication differences is critical in preventing such losses.

Meetings are a good starting point to implement inclusive communication practices. They should provide a secure space for diverse individuals to communicate without fear. However, our whitepaper reveals that minorities at work still face difficulties expressing themselves authentically and effectively due to their fear of being stereotyped.

To address this, here are 4 steps to create a more inclusive meeting environment:

1. Share agendas before the meeting

An agenda can ease anxieties by providing attendees with a clear understanding of how to prepare and what to expect. This approach is particularly beneficial for introverts on the team who prefer to consider ideas before sharing them.

For example, before the annual strategy meeting, Peter created an online agenda using Pigeonhole Live and shared it, which helped the introverted team members gather their thoughts beforehand and led to a more productive discussion during the meeting.

2. Establish inclusive meeting guidelines

To ensure productive meetings, basic rules such as assigning clear responsibilities for agenda items, strictly enforcing a "no interruptions" policy, acknowledging valuable contributions, preventing hijacking, and avoiding domination by certain individuals, must be put in place.

During a quarterly sales meeting, for instance, Paula's sales team used Pigeonhole Live's Q&A feature to ask questions and provide feedback to the speaker, while the agenda feature helped her assign team members for each topic, ensuring that no one was able to dominate the discussion and that all viewpoints were heard.

3. Enable anonymous contributions

Allowing anonymous feedback can shift the focus from the person asking the question to the question itself, which is particularly useful for employees who are worried about being judged for their inquiries and prevents more outspoken individuals from monopolizing the conversation.

For example, during a town hall meeting on employee benefits and compensation, Angela's HR team utilized Pigeonhole Live's anonymous Q&A feature to foster an open and honest dialogue among employees without the fear of judgment or retaliation. This ensured that everyone had a chance to participate and share their thoughts.

4. Designate a critical thinker

In any meeting, it's important to avoid groupthink, which can stifle creativity and hinder progress. A Devil's Advocate can help to encourage people to challenge ideas and express disagreement in a safe and non-judgmental environment. This approach can lead to better outcomes and more effective decision-making.

For instance, in Vincent's team meeting utilizing Pigeonhole Live for brainstorming, the facilitator designated a Devil's Advocate to promote dissenting viewpoints, while the team used the anonymous Q&A feature to ensure that participants could express disagreements without fear of being judged or penalized.

Embrace diversity for productive and inclusive meetings

So, let's avoid turning your meetings into a marathon of never-ending chaos and frustration! Remember to always respect and value diverse working styles, and your meetings will not only be more productive, but also more enjoyable. Who knows, maybe you'll even start looking forward to them (just don't get too carried away)!

Download our whitepaper, Diversity Fails Without Inclusion, for more actionable insights on how to build inclusiveness frameworks in your organization.