That Email Could’ve Been a Meeting

We’ve all been there—sitting in a meeting that goes nowhere, watching the minutes tick by, wondering if we’re achieving anything meaningful. How often have you thought, “This could’ve been an email”?

Yet, there are times when the reverse is true. Constant message exchange, lack of tone, people upset and disengaged in front of a screen full of text, an overloaded inbox that never lets you rest at the end of the day—in those moments, you might think, “A quick conversation would probably have solved it faster and better.”

Productivity has become a critical metric for businesses and individuals, constantly pushing for greater efficiency. It’s often viewed as the key to economic growth, competitiveness, and profitability. Despite significant technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, automation, and digitization, global productivity has declined recently. According to recent data, labor productivity growth rates in many developed countries have slowed considerably, indicating a broader trend of stagnation.

The Global Productivity Brief shows that, in 2022, global GDP grew at the same rate as the number of hours worked, which means that the extra hours only added marginal value to the GDP. However, this trend is worse in mature economies and even worse in the US, where more hours worked led to decreased GDP. In other words, work got in the way of productivity.

This decline in productivity is paradoxical, given the rapid pace of technological innovation and the increasing adoption of automation and digital tools in the workplace. One would expect these advancements to boost productivity by streamlining processes and reducing manual labor. However, the opposite is happening, raising questions about the underlying causes of this productivity slump.

This begs the question: if technology, including AI, continues to evolve, why aren’t we seeing a corresponding increase in productivity?

Several factors could contribute to this decline in productivity. First, the rapid pace of technological change can lead to learning curves and adaptation challenges, temporarily reducing efficiency. Second, the increasing complexity of modern work environments may require more collaboration and conversations, which can slow decision-making and execution (but should it?). Third, the growing use of asynchronous communication tools, while intended to increase flexibility, can lead to information overload and misalignment. Here, we will focus on the latter two.

As Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, once said:

“Increasingly, the talk is the work. Few decisions that lead to self-sustaining action are made unilaterally… thinking and learning together in fast-changing interdependent business settings define successful organizations.”

While technology takes over many tasks, critical decisions still require human interaction, and that interaction happens through conversations. However, despite their importance, we aren’t typically taught how to conduct effective conversations.

The truth is that the success of our work relies heavily on collaboration and leadership, both of which are underpinned by conversations. Here at Conversant, we care about it. Our vision to “awaken the world to the power and joy of authentic human connection, setting a new standard for leadership that produces meaningful, enduring impact” makes us focus on conversations as the key to productivity and organizational success.

Through decades of research and consulting with thousands of clients, we’ve found that effective conversations can transform productivity and collaboration. Here are some foundational principles for making conversations work in your favor:

• Alignment: The Intersection

The concept of the “intersection” is where the purposes, concerns, and circumstances of different groups, such as employees, investors, and customers, align. It is not about one group’s dominance over others but about finding common ground to create high-velocity value. When the intersection is achieved, it fosters collaboration, shared value, and reciprocity, resulting in more efficient business practices, reduced stress, and higher profits. Businesses can produce meaningful work, ethical peace, and improved customer satisfaction by focusing on integration instead of domination. Respecting and addressing each group’s perspectives fosters positive communication and trust, leading to more significant results. The key to achieving this intersection is understanding and acknowledging the other party’s purposes, concerns, and circumstances, promoting constructive dialogue and successful negotiation. When people feel their interests are respected, they are more likely to collaborate, creating a foundation for innovative solutions and long-term success. The benefits of finding common ground include:

• Enhanced Problem-Solving: When diverse perspectives converge, solutions are more comprehensive.
• Shared Responsibility: When everyone feels a sense of ownership, there’s a more outstanding commitment to success.
• Reduced Wasteful Conflict: Intersection-based conversations reduce tension by focusing on shared goals.

HOW TO USE THE INTERSECTION IN A MEETING: Ensure that what matters to each person is clear to everyone. This will encourage more collaboration and less resistance, leading to greater alignment. You might literally ask: “What matters to you about this?” to everyone in the kickstart of a meeting

• Conversational Quality: The Conversation Meter

The conversation meter is a tool that measures the quality and effectiveness of conversations, helping individuals navigate from pretense to authenticity. It works on a scale from 0 to 100, with pretense and sincerity on the left side (lower value) and accuracy and authenticity on the right (higher value). Pretense involves lying or withholding information, sincerity is an honest opinion that may not be fact-based, accuracy separates facts from opinions, and authenticity explores where points of view intersect to reveal valuable outcomes. Moving from left to right on the meter accelerates the trip to the intersection, where common ground is found and genuine connections are made. The closer to the right side, the more likely conversations will lead to valuable insights and solutions. Conversely, staying on the left side often leads to stress, effort, and slower progress. The conversation meter is not only a concept but also a skill that involves accuracy, learning, and open-mindedness, fostering collaboration and innovation.

You can learn that effective conversations require moving from pretense and sincerity towards accuracy and authenticity. The conversation meter demonstrates this progression, emphasizing that pretense involves dishonesty or evasion, while sincerity, though honest, can be inaccurate. Accuracy separates facts from opinions, promoting open communication and reducing conflict, while authenticity explores common ground and shared values to create valuable interactions. Leaders should strive for accuracy and authenticity in conversations by focusing on mutually observable facts, acknowledging different viewpoints, and seeking common interests. By practicing accuracy and authenticity, leaders can foster inclusion, reduce stress, and accelerate collaboration, leading to more effective communication and better outcomes. Authentic conversations, built on understanding and respect, lead to deeper relationships, greater creativity, and higher achievements within teams and organizations.

HOW TO USE THE CONVERSATION METER IN A MEETING: when joining a conversation, assess your listening level on the Conversation Meter. If you notice you are avoiding listening to what people are trying to say, understand why you are checking out of the conversation. You might be on pretense. If you notice you are just waiting for people to stop talking for you to express your opinion, take a breath and try not to mix your opinion with the facts. You might be on sincerity. When you find a way to be accurate in your communication and actively listen to what each person is saying, you will manage to listen and speak productively, leading to more value and less waste.

• Conversational Timing: The Cycle of Value

Leaders need a solid foundation for fostering effective teamwork and achieving organizational goals in a constantly changing business landscape. Aligning deeply, acting quickly, and adjusting often offer that foundation by guiding leaders to unite their teams around shared objectives, ensure clear communication and accountability, and encourage continuous improvement. These principles matter because they create a structure for collaboration, allowing teams to work cohesively towards common goals. When leaders understand and apply these principles, they can minimize wasteful behaviors like miscommunication and conflict, leading to a more efficient and adaptive organization.

The cycle of value works by fostering this continuous process of aligning, acting, and adjusting in conversations to create and maintain value. It starts with alignment, where people, time, and resources are united toward a common goal by discovering shared purposes, inventing ideas, and investing resources. This leads to action, which involves engaging those responsible for executing tasks, clarifying expectations, and closing the loop by ensuring accountability. The final stage is an adjustment, where experiences and results are reviewed, and lessons are used to renew efforts and relationships.

A successful cycle of value requires all three elements to work seamlessly, creating a virtuous loop of improved teamwork, creativity, and resource allocation. By using this cycle, leaders can achieve higher commitment, better execution, and a smoother path to success while minimizing wasteful behaviors such as disagreement, defense, and destruction. Effective use of the cycle of value requires intentional conversations that focus on collaboration, clear communication, and continuous learning.

HOW TO USE THE CYCLE OF VALUE IN A MEETING: Ensure that the purpose and outcomes of the conversation are clear to everyone. Some people might be talking about action, while others want to discuss the plan, and a third group is talking about what went wrong already. Following the sequence, 1) Align Deeply, 2) Act Quickly, and 3) Adjust Often is the key to keeping the team in lockstep.

• Presence: The Vital Force

Presence is the ability to be fully aware without prejudice, encompassing intellectual, emotional, and physical awareness. It is crucial for leaders, as it dictates their effectiveness and impact on others. When leaders practice presence, they are more discerning, connected, and practical, leading to better decision-making and stronger relationships. To improve presence, focus on observing your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without judgment. Practicing presence involves conscious relaxation and attention to the current moment, promoting relaxed vigilance. Techniques to improve presence include breathing exercises, noticing, and relaxing tension, and focusing attention where it matters most. By cultivating presence, leaders can achieve a more meaningful connection with others, enhance trust, and create a more effective and harmonious environment. Presence is grounded in five principles:

HOW TO USE PRESENCE IN A MEETING: Before anything else, ask yourself: “What am I not doing/pausing to be fully present here now?”. Then, notice how your body feels and how are you landing on the meeting. Are you anxious? Are you excited? Whatever it is, the gain is in acknowledging the feelings, not trying to change them forcefully. Take a deep breath and focus on why that meeting matters. Let it guide you.

While asynchronous communication (emails, instant messaging, etc.) is excellent for efficiency, it will never lay the foundation for a strong team—trust does that. Trust has three key elements: community, contribution, and choice. Without trust, productivity suffers, and the quality of our work decreases.

To build trust through conversations, start with community—a sense of belonging based on shared values and purpose. The second key is contribution, the feeling of making a meaningful difference. Lastly, choice, the victory of commitment over compliance, is crucial for genuine collaboration.

Before you hit send on that email, consider whether it might be more valuable as a meeting, especially if you’re building the foundation for a high-trust team. Let those emails that could create trust become meetings first. Build alignment first, then execute the tasks, send the emails, and create agile action. Always remember to adjust and correct through high-trust, high-alignment conversations.

To quickly assess the vitality of your organization, try Conversant’s Organizational QuickScan. This simple tool can help you recognize and build on your strengths to focus on the conversations that matter. We’d love to hear what ideas it sparks for you!

Only through strengths-based leadership can we get the most out of the talent and resources available to us. In a world where people try to behave like robots and robots try to behave like people, you can outsmart the system just by letting people be great by doing what they do best.