Philippe Silberzahn is professor of strategy at EM Lyon Business School and researcher at École Polytechnique. His work focuses on how organizations can transform themselves to manage the disruptions and situations of uncertainty they face. He is also the author of a noted article entitled “How (not) to fight reunionitis”, available on his blog.
For this specialist in strategy, entrepreneurship and innovation, doctor in management and holder of a DEA in artificial intelligence, we may multiply the anecdotes to decry the number of useless meetings, nothing will change if we do not Don’t try to find out what causes them. The key would be in the redefinition of the mental models established in the company.
Le Point: How did you become interested in the subject of meetings?
Today, everyone is looking to find ways to run effective meetings. In vain, if we are to believe your analyses?
As long as we have not identified, within the organization, what generates this need for meetings, technical solutions are futile. Often it is a need for protection. I remember a factory where the managers are engineers by training. Their mental model of a manager is that of an expert who has the answer to everything. Everyone fears being found wanting on an issue in front of their peers. The meeting is seen as a place for socializing risk. So, if the human resources manager says: we’re going to ban meetings, the guy is terrified. It’s catastrophic for him. He’s going to have meetings on the sly. If he is not allowed to have meetings lasting more than an hour, he will have three. This is a perfectly rational reaction. All managers complain about reunionitis, but they are the ones who unconsciously create it to protect themselves.
What are businesses missing to make a difference?
What they lack is a code for understanding and acting on mental models, that is to say the representation of reality constructed by the organization and its collaborators. An organization is defined by its shared beliefs. To transform it, we must change the values that guide the reading of situations. Take the example of this company that complains about the bureaucracy linked to “processes”. For each small project, a large committee is set up: three managers, three sub-managers, three assistants and two sub-project managers.
The prevailing feeling is that if this person does not participate in the meeting, the others will do stupid things. A simplification commission was established to break this pattern. Technical response to a systemic problem. If in the organization a feeling of fear prevails, you can make all possible meeting regulations, standing, walking, removing them in the afternoon, the elements of the system will interpret it as a threat and will react accordingly for their security.
In this large CAC 40 company, consensus is a very strong mental model, because it is associated with good risk management. To achieve this, however, requires a lot of meetings which take time. Everyone is complaining internally. The CEO orders a reduction in the number of meetings. But this decision is poorly received, because it prevents the building of a consensus. By ignoring the “consensus” mental model, the CEO acted to no effect. He could have invited employees to imagine other ways of creating consensus than by having more meetings or inviting many people.
You train managers to change their mindset. What does this training involve?
I help managers become aware of their mental models, that is to say their deep beliefs, to be able to determine their strength but also their weakness. For example, a belief about their customers may have become obsolete without them realizing it. This involves a series of practical exercises allowing the participant to present their representation of reality. The idea is that they get into the habit of regularly questioning their state of mind. It’s like brushing your teeth: a little bit, but consistently, ends up having a big effect.