On the Same Page: How to avoid the meeting after the meeting.

• Author: Sutherland, Spencer
• Position: Entrepreneur Edge

When a meeting works right, it's a beautiful thing. There's collaboration and decision making, and people leave with the direction and motivation to do the work. However, when a meeting goes wrong, the result is often another meeting--the meeting after the meeting.

Everyone's been part of the small gathering that happens when the official meeting ends. That's where people raise concerns, ask tough questions and share their real feelings--not to mention gossip and complain.

Though these meetings may begin as a way to dig deeper, they often end up undermining the efforts of the larger group and lowering morale. But what can leaders do about it?

David Maxfield, vice president of research at VitalSmarts and coauthor of Crucial Accountability, Influencer and Change Anything, says the answer is to get the first meeting right.

Help people feel safe

"Usually the reason there is the meeting after the meeting is because people don't feel safe disagreeing or don't feel comfortable articulating their point of view during the meeting," Maxfield says.

To create a feeling of safety in the room, he recommends explicitly asking for different points of view. "Simply asking people to play devil's advocate can make it safe," he says. This not only gives people permission to raise an opposing view, but allows their comments to be seen as helpful rather than dissenting.

Creating a safe environment also means being mindful of the introverts, who may want more time to process the information before raising their voices in a group setting. "Too often, we surprise people in the meeting. That's not good for anybody, especially the introverts," Maxfield says. He recommends giving attendees the agenda a day in advance, especially if they're expected to share feedback or give opinions during the meeting.

Decide how to decide

Many after-meetings are the result of participants not understanding their role in the decision-making process. "Usually in the back of your mind, you already know who owns the decision," Maxfield explains. "If you don't tell people who owns it, they'll guess. Oftentimes, they'll assume that they own the decision, that it's consensus. But that's pretty rare."

Leaders should be clear about whether the meeting is to inform the team about a decision that's already been made, to gather input that may impact an eventual decision, or to make the decision right then and there.

"That way, the post-meeting lobbying doesn't take the form of'Well, they're not...