Monsters in Meetings – Part 6, Deadlocked Discussions

This one creeps up on you.

And if you let it continue, it will ruin your meeting.

At first it seems that the participants are working toward an agreement. They raise concerns. Then they explore the concerns. It all seems normal.

But it keeps going.

In fact, it expands. And soon you have an argument where neither side will let go. Your meeting is now stuck in a deadlock.

So how do you fix it?

Approach 1: Form a subcommittee

Ask for volunteers from the opposing viewpoints to form a subcommittee to resolve the issue. This is a useful approach, because: 1) The issue may require extensive research, which is best completed outside the meeting, 2) The people who caused the deadlock will be responsible for solving it, or 3) The effort to resolve the issue will test its priority. That is, if no one wants to spend time finding a solution, then perhaps the issue (or at least the controversy) is unimportant.

Ask for a subcommittee by saying:

“There seem to be concerns about this issue. Rather than use everyone’s time in the meeting, I want a subcommittee to resolve this and report back to us. Who wants to be on...