Imagine you enter the conference room for a meeting about company goals and how to achieve them. An hour later, you leave the meeting feeling like no progress was made and your time was wasted.

Unfortunately, many of us leave conversations at work feeling disappointed rather than uplifted and motivated. That's a problem.

Whether it’s between employees and/or managers, our dialogue at work should inspire us to be more productive, build stronger working relationships, boost morale, and continue to improve communication. Exchanging feedback, listening to understand, and other key elements often go missing in our day-to-day interactions, causing our conversations to fall flat.

High productivity and motivation can be achieved with consistent effort in making conversations truly meaningful. Let's uncover the power of conversation so that we can learn to harness it.

Why Meaningful Conversations Matter, Especially At Work

First, what exactly makes a conversation meaningful?

Truly impactful and productive conversation goes beyond small talk and reaches a deeper level of vulnerability. When all parties involved in a conversation feel supported to share concerns or important feelings (and those feelings are well received and considered), we find meaningfulness in the interaction.

According to psychologist Lucy Foulkes at Psyche, there are three components we can harness to foster deeper conversation:

1. self-expression (sharing aspects of who you are)
2. effective listening, and
3. a sense of connection

However, less than half of conversations are meaningful, often because we are afraid of being awkward, uninteresting, or misunderstood when expressing ourselves and attempting to establish a sense of connection. 

• Personal and professional networks grow

Conversations & Meeting Productivity

For a lot of us, most of our conversations with coworkers take place in meetings.

If you have productivity issues in meetings, take a good look at how conversation flows, because there’s a good chance it’s the culprit.

Leaders are responsible for how meetings function, meaning keeping conversations on track is their responsibility.

Establishing expectations and objectives for your meetings is the key to having productive sessions. Communicate to participants what the meeting is for, the goals you want to accomplish in the timeframe, and how you would like to see the meeting progress. Defining expectations as the meeting begins helps the team stay focused and contribute meaningfully.

As conversations build and ideas and opinions begin to circulate, encourage team members to go beyond the surface by asking follow-up questions, such as “what else?”

Also, leave lulls in conversations or gently invite reserved participants to have the floor and share their thoughts so that everyone is involved in carrying the conversation.

When mitigating unproductive conversations, get the group back on track by assuming positive intent from everyone, and encourage others to do the same. This strategy helps individuals truly consider everyone’s perspectives and brews curiosity rather than instantly shut down misinterpreted ideas.

We're not leaving you hanging - our comprehensive 9-step guide to making your conversations meaningful at work is coming soon.

Is preparing for meetings draining your time and energy? Check out our comprehensive meeting modules here, ready to be instantly downloaded and played for your team.

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You might also enjoy:

• How To Deliver And Accept Constructive Feedback At Work
• Excel at Work By Using The Four Social Styles
• 10 Effective Ways To Engage And Motivate Your Employees