THE BEST WAYS TO GET IDEA INPUT

Tomorrow I will be spending two days with a group of people I first met a few years ago in the Youth Ministry Coaching Program through what is now The Youth Cartel.  It was one of the best years of leadership investment I made and would highly recommend it for personal growth if you’re considering a tailored leadership experience.

One of the things it taught me was a great way to get idea input from a team, something all leaders need to do from time to time.

There were two ways we did this.  Both are leadership tools I have implemented in meetings ever since.  They keep things moving.  They cut to the chase. Because they are all timed (like for reals with a watch or phone app or whatever), they also keep a meeting from taking forever, something meetings are notoriously bad for… wasting time.

So here goes, my favorite 2 ways to get great feedback on an idea or problem in a team leadership setting:

#1. QUICK INPUT BLOCKS.   (5-6 minute power feedback moments)

As a presenter, you are given 2-3 minutes to share your issue of concern that you want feedback on.

After your 3 minutes is up, the group has 60 seconds to ask any clarifying questions they may have.  Only questions.  No commentary.

Then the final 2 minutes are brief sentence feedback on what team members think you should do or what they would recommend.

The “presenter” or communicator takes notes on the feedback and then leaves the meeting to follow up on the feedback they received and act on it.

We would usually allot about 15-20 minutes for these and simply open it up for anyone who has something.  Once the 3 or 4 quick input blocks are claimed, the presentations begin.   (BTW, this is an awesome format for a “small group leader meeting” where someone has an issue in their group they need some help or ideas in resolving)

#2. PERSONAL PRESENTATIONS   (30-35 minute planned feedback presentations)

You might only have 1 or 2 of these in a meeting.  They are not “wing it” moments. Instead, they are planned and prepared, often with a handout that has details and such.

The assigned person who is looking for input is given 15 minutes for their presentation.

5 minutes for clarifying questions only where the team can only ask questions to get more details.

10-15 minutes for feedback from the group on the presentation where they can ask more questions or offer suggestions.   In our case, both the presentation and the feedback were audio recorded on a laptop.  However in the times I’ve done this since, they are simply recorded via note taking.

THERE YOU GO… hope you find one of these methods to be a leadership win for the meetings you inevitably will have in the weeks ahead.