Читать книгу Effective Meetings in 7 simple steps - Barry Tomalin - Страница 28

Avoid this one if you can. It promotes opposition, as mentioned earlier. The British parliamentary system is based on government versus opposition. So it’s noisy and, in a fairly friendly British way, antagonistic.

The same occurs in business, but it’s not always friendly. Sometimes, this layout is dictated by the shape of the room and the number of attendees. The danger is that if people are opposite each other, they will naturally sit with those they agree with and opposite those they don’t.

As an example: a firm had contractual difficulties with one of its affiliates. A meeting was arranged to try to resolve the problem. Unfortunately, the meeting room had a table with two rows of chairs facing each other. The contractor and her team sat on one side and the affiliate and his team on the other. The atmosphere was stiff and cold. Points of agreement were difficult to find.

Then the contractor had a brainwave. She suggested they take a break, and during the break she changed the meeting room. The new room had a round table! Immediately, there was a more positive atmosphere, and after more discussion both sides reached an agreement.

What had changed? The meeting leader was convinced of one thing. Sitting round a table in a circle diminished the atmosphere of confrontation and increased the willingness to cooperate.