Keywords: Meeting, culture, structure, agenda, facilitator, videoconferencing
I. INTRODUCTION
Meetings play a weighty role in the realm of group communication, especially in the problem-solving and decision-making processes. In the business and government communities of China, the collaborative efforts of work teams have led to a dramatic increase in the number of meetings. However, a considerable part of meeting planners and participants’ understanding of how to run a meeting smoothly, efficiently and fairly is limited. Some meetings are really chaotic, leading to that meeting participants are dissatisfied with the meetings and thus fail to gain any benefit from them. As a result, meetings become the most universal–and universally despised–part of business life in China.
This paper utilizes some essential small group communication theories to examine and analyze how to enhance the quality of task-based meetings in both physical and virtual settings of China. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: In section II, we briefly identify the problems existing in Chinese meetings. In section III, we present a set of Chinese cultural characteristics that are deemed to have great influence on meeting effectiveness. In section IV, we present some strategies that can drive meeting effectiveness in China based on some essential small group communication theories, including systems theory, structuration theory, symbolic convergence theory, social exchange theory, and functional theory. Finally, in section V we give concluding remarks.
II. PROBLEMS EXISTING IN CHINESE MEETINGS
The most frequently mentioned problems existing in Chinese meetings are:
1. Meetings are poor or inadequate prepared. People have no clear goals or agendas in their minds before the meetings.
2. Meetings lack structures or orderly procedures. People wander off the topic frequently. Meetings are always missing important information or postponing critical decisions because participants spend more time digressing than discussing.
3. Not all participants get involved in the discussion. One or two individuals dominate the conversation, while others remain relative silent.
4. People reach consensus or conform to the majority opinion primarily in order to avoid conflict. Social psychologist Irving Janis calls this phenomenon groupthink (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 14).
5. Meetings are too long.
6. People don’t convert decisions into actions. Nothing happens once the meeting ends.
Bad meetings do more than ruin an otherwise pleasant day. Bad meetings hinder, rather than facilitate, business. Bad meetings make bad companies and bad governments. Bad meetings are a source of negative messages about our organization and ourselves. Furthermore, bad meetings lead to even more meetings, and over time the costs become awe-inspiring.
III. CHINESE CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
“Meetings are one of the most complex forms of human interaction that we engage in” (Hogan, 1993). Culture adds another dimension. It is helpful at this stage to present a set of Chinese cultural characteristics that are deemed to have great influence on meeting effectiveness as follows:
1. Collectivism: In Chinese culture, collective well-being takes precedence over individual achievement. People revere harmony and the ability to assimilate differences to build consensus.
2. High-context: People place more emphasis on nonverbal communication. Nonverbal cues, such as the communicator’s mood, gesture, tone of voice, and facial expression, are especially significant in decoding messages.
3. Self-effacement: In China, when people attend meetings, they pay more attention to listening instead of speaking. If no one is asking, then they would rather keep silent. But if required, they can certainly express their wishes or concerns.
4. Polychronic: People give less attention to deadlines and schedules and tend to approach time with a less-structured perspective.
5. People give particular consideration to status differences. They revere seniors and authority.
6. The ancient Chinese tradition of ‘giving face’ and ‘saving face’ is still embedded in Chinese culture.
Culture has an important impact on group communication and dynamics. Therefore, adjusting meeting techniques based on Chinese cultural expectations is critical to meeting success in China.
IV. STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING MEETING EFFECTIVENESS IN CHINA
Considering the problems and Chinese cultural characteristics described above, we should ask ourselves a series of questions: How to avoid the same problems in the future? How to improve the quality of meetings based on Chinese unique cultural dimensions? In this section, we first give a brief literature review on some essential small group communication theories. Based on these theories, we present several strategies that can enhance the quality of task-based meetings in both physical and virtual settings of China.
A. Literature review
System theory claims that the small group is an open system of interdependent elements, employing input variables and process variables to yield output (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 51).
Structuration theory provides a general framework that explains how people structure their groups by making active use of rules and resources. System and rules are two important concepts in structuration theory. System is composed of many interdependent elements. Rules are explicit or implied prescriptions that affect how people behave in a group (system) (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 49).
Symbolic convergence theory indicates that a group develops a unique identity and feeling of cohesiveness through sharing fantasies or stories that are often chained together and have a common theme (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 51).
Social exchange theory predicts that groups remain attractive to their group members so long as the rewards of group membership exceed the costs (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 51).
Functional theory explains how communication functions to accomplish tasks, overcome obstacles, and review procedures to maximize group effectiveness (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 52).
Functional approach to the study of leadership examines leadership as a set of behaviors that may be enacted by any group member to maximize group effectiveness (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 314).
B. Strategies for driving face-to-face meeting effectiveness
All effective meetings need structure. In China, the most frequently mentioned complain about meetings is lacking structures. According to structuration theory, meeting leaders and participates should identify appropriate rules and resources to give the meeting structure, which in turn enhances the quality of the meeting. Wilkinson defines a facilitated session as a highly structured meeting in which the facilitator guides participants through a series of predefined steps to arrive at a result that is created, understood, and accepted by all participants (reviewed by Domenick, 2005). So Chinese meeting leaders and participates must gain a better understanding of how to be a smart facilitator to run a structured meeting.
In line with the functional approach to the study of leadership, Bostrom, Anson, and Clawson (1993) stated that facilitative behaviors might be exhibited by several individuals in meeting groups: external facilitators, group leaders, or other group members. Facilitators adopt different styles, play different roles, and perform a variety of functions in the group interactions. These styles, roles, and functions have been shown to affect group processes and meeting outcomes (Keller, 1992). Miranda and Bostrom (1999) identified three major facilitator roles: content facilitation (supporting task content), process facilitation (supporting group process), and training. In the task-based meeting, the process and content facilitation roles are dominant. These three roles encompass Clawson, Bostrom, and Anson’s (1993) sixteen facilitator dimensions. Table 1 highlights the facilitator roles, sources of facilitation, timing, and impacts (Miranda & Bostrom, 1999).
As shown in Table 1, the facilitation activities are carried out before, during, and after a meeting to help the group achieve its own outcomes. So the first step to run a structured meeting is prior preparation and planning. A smart facilitator should at least do three things before the meeting:
1. Identify the clear goal(s) of the meeting. “One cardinal rule of meeting is this: Meeting only when there is a specific purpose and when it is advantageous or desirable to disscuss issues, solves problems, or making decisions as a group” (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 339).
2. Draft a structured meeting agenda. Meeting agenda is “a list of key issues, ideas, and information that will be presented in the order in which they will be discussed” (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 339). Agenda is worthy of serious consideration because lack of agenda can serve as a major barrier to give the meeting structure and achieve the goal(s) of the meeting. The agenda should include which items you would cover and the order in which you would cover them, how long each segment will take, who will lead which parts of the discussion, what the expected outcomes are, and what actions are to be taken after the meeting.
3. Circulate the agenda several days before the meeting, letting participants modify it and give the issue that will be discussed some prior thoughts and considerations. Making agenda visible to the group in advance makes the system more open.
The facilitator’s next task is to make the meeting more effective by balancing two things: structure and interaction. During the meeting, the facilitator’s roles and responsibilities are:
1. Summarize roles and responsibilities at the beginning of the meeting, ensuring that everyone understood the interrelated roles and responsibilities. According to system theory, all parts of the group (system) are dynamic and interdependent (Boechler, 2005). Thus, we must realize and make clear that an effective meeting is a joint responsibility of everyone in the group. Usually, other than facilitator, there are two main roles in a face-to-face meeting: participants and scribe. The roles of the participants are to listen actively and contribute high-quality ideas. Their comments, questions, criticisms, insights should heighten rather than diminish the quality of the meeting. The scribe’s role is to minute proceedings of the meeting.
2. Help the group focus on the goal and stick to the agenda. One of the most effective tools for keeping the group on track is summarizing. By understanding when a group needs a summary—and then provide it—the facilitator can help move the meeting toward its goal (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 316). Furthermore, it is the starting point for all advice on productive meetings: stick to the agenda. Of course, even the best-crafted agenda cannot guard against digressions, distractions, and the other foibles of human interaction. Symbolic convergence theory indicates that fantasy chain reaction occurs when group energy increases and there is a common emotional response to the imagery used. Fantasies increase cohesiveness within the group and enable a group to discuss difficult matters indirectly (Boechler, 2005). Thus, the smart facilitator should keep the meeting focused without stifling meeting climate.
3. Be a timekeeper to remind participants on agreed schedules. This is important because Chinese people sometime are not sensitive to schedules and punctuality.
4. Suggest processes to enhance participation. As discussed earlier, one of the problems existing in Chinese meetings is that not all participants give input. According to system theory, groups cannot yield output without input. So another key task of the facilitator is to orchestrate meaningful interaction during the meeting to make sure all participants have opportunities to give input. The facilitator can use the important leadership function, gatekeeping, to encourage quieter individuals to participate and limit the contributions of oververbalizers. “It ensure more input along the task dimension and higher member satisfaction along the process dimension” (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 318). In addition, Miranda and Bostrom (1993-94) proposed that active and equal participation by group members in the group task can prevent the occurrence of groupthink.
5. Use structured methods to achieve more effective results. Based on structuration theory, the facilitator can use some rules, techniques, and technologies to structure the meeting interaction. For example, if the meeting goal is to generate new ideas, the facilitator can consider using the nominal-group technique to enhance creativity. It is “a problem solving brainstorming method in which members work individually on ideas, rank suggested solutions, and then report findings for group discussion” (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 360). This method is very suitable in China because Chinese culture encourages self-effacement, whose impact is that most of people are not used to speak up in front of others. Nominal-group technique uses silent brainstorming which overcomes the problem by encouraging even apprehensive group members to participate by first writing their ideas.
6. Develop an action chart at the end of the meeting, list the tasks that need to be done and identify who will do what by a specific date.
Actions are more important than words. So after the meeting, the facilitator should continue checking the actions of group members to make sure everyone get the work done before the deadline.
In addition, research suggests that parliamentary procedure can be an effective method of adding structure and rules to coordinate quality discussion in a large group (of twenty or more people) (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 345). “Parliamentary procedure is all of the laws and rules of an organization that govern its transaction of business” (Slaughter, 1999). It is designed to preserve order, expedite business and protect rights (Cozart, 1998). We do not need to adhere strictly to parliamentary rules in every aspect; however, we should follow some basic rules, including (Webster, 2001):
1. Every meeting must have a written agenda.
2. Adhere to the agenda, taking items out of sequence only when necessary.
3. Must have a quorum present (typically more than one half of the board members).
4. Formal board action must be pursuant to a motion.
5. Permit everyone who wishes to speak about a matter to do so.
6. Members may speak only when recognized by the chair.
7. The chair should remain impartial, at least in terms of process, and vote only if it would affect the outcome (e.g., break a tie) or if there is a secret ballot.
8. The board must always maintain decorum.
9. Always keep written minutes.
Parliamentary procedure is important because it promotes fairness and openness, which contributes to a positive atmosphere in which we can make important decisions. It also helps us end the meetings on time.
C. Strategies for driving virtual meeting effectiveness in China
The past decade has ushered in an era in which the availability and power of communication technologies has made virtual teams not only possible but sometimes preferred (Graham, 2003). Therefore, it is necessary for Chinese people to utilize technology and technological skills to interact with people in new ways for the benefit of their meetings. In the remained part, we will turn our attention to virtual meetings suited to China.
There are a variety of types of virtual meetings, including: a) Teleconferencing, which refers to multiple phone hook-ups; b) Videoconferencing, where there is a two-way audio and two-way video link up. It is an alternative means of communication within which voice, video, text or graphic data are exchanged electronically to participants at geographically dispersed locations (Campbell, 1997); c) Computer-mediated meeting.
As mentioned above, China ranked very high on the high-context cultural index. Therefore, videoconferencing systems that support non-verbal cues would be suitable in China. In addition, the costs and rewards identified by social exchange theory can be related to virtual meetings clearly. For example, one reward of videoconferencing is that videoconferencing systems use video images as well as sound to duplicate as closely as possible the experience of face-to-face meetings without imposing the burden of travel. Moreover, the major findings from research on videoconferencing usage indicate: a) Meetings are shorter, as people tend to concentrate specifically on the task at hand; b) Meetings are more task-oriented; c) Meetings are better structured; d) Meetings are more orderly, even though less hierarchically organized and less status oriented; e) There is generally more equality of participation; f) More opinion exchange occurs and persuasion is more successful (Campbell, 1997). There is no doubt that some costs have to be taken into account: a) additional efforts required to install the new equipment, b) different norms of behaviors need to be developed, and c) particular skills are required. In short, videoconferencing is different and must be approached in different ways as follows:
1. It is helpful to assign the role of facilitator in each site and an overall chairperson who announces protocol at the beginning.
2. Other than facilitator, participants, and scribe, a skilled camera operator is needed.
3. Starting the meeting with a simple agenda item allows people to warm to the technology.
4. The speaker should state the name and location before making his/her point.
5. The pace of speech and the movement of the body need to be slowed down to enhance the quality of the sound and picture. It may also be necessary to request individuals to speak up if they appear to be mumbling.
6. Research suggests that when interacting through mediated communication, followers are less satisfied with their leaders than when interacting face-to face. This implies that leaders may need to spend extra effort on increasing follower satisfaction when not interacting face-to-face (Hoyt & Blascovich, 2003).
Other than these particular skills, the concepts about effective ordinary meetings located above will still apply in the new setting.
Besides the videoconferencing, some kinds of computer-mediated meeting technologies can be effectively applied in China too, such as e-mail, MSN Instant Messenger, and group decision support system (GDSS, which is any “computer-based information system used to support intellectual collaborative work” (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 52)).
One obvious cost of computer-mediated meeting is the need to have access to a computer network and appropriate software. But the connection through cyberspace can add structure to the meetings and make the system more open, thus enhance the quality of the meeting. For example, by using computers, we can generate ideas anonymously and separate the process of generating ideas from evaluating ideas. As what we have mentioned, ‘giving face’ and ‘saving face’ is very important in Chinese culture, and people care much about status differences. By generating ideas anonymously, all participants are treated equally. When they evaluate ideas, they do not need to think about status differences. Furthermore, in cyberspace, the possibilities for visual, verbal or aural communication can create new avenues for fantasy themes and group identity (Beebe & Masterson, 2005, p. 52).
To sum up, virtual meetings can be more productive than traditional meetings if proper techniques are used. It is my belief that videoconferencing and other kinds of virtual meetings will enable meetings across China to grow in new and exciting ways.
V. CONCLUSION
Meetings are like any other part of business life: you get better only if you commit to it and aim high. The theories, strategies and technologies we have examined and analyzed above provide an initial view of how to enhance the quality of task-based meetings in both physical and virtual settings of China. We can turn long and disorganized meetings into short and structured ones by identifing clear goals, drafting and circulating structured agendas before the meeting, balancing the structure and interaction during the meeting, and converting decisions into actions after the meeting.
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