Are you one of the people who hate meetings, because they go on too long, and never seem to be relevant?

Recent research from the Cranfield Centre for Business Performance at the University of Cranfield found that meetings don’t have to be like this.

Instead, the researchers suggest, meetings can be one of the most powerful tools in any manager’s armoury if the chairperson can help participants to enter a state of ‘mindfulness’.

In this state, the participants will see things more clearly and help to make better decisions.

What is Mindfulness?

Fundamentally, mindfulness is being aware of the present.

Originally a Buddhist concept, mindfulness is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. In this context, it means an awareness of the reality of things and is therefore considered to be a way of overcoming delusion, and a key power.

On a personal level, mindfulness means being aware of one’s body, mind, and feelings.

In a ‘mindful meeting’, the chairperson helps the participants to be aware of the ‘now’ but not react too quickly to information.

This allows for exploration of new ideas and different perspectives.

The Cranfield research, led by Dr Andrey Pavlov and Dr Jutta Toblas, suggests that if the chair helps participants to become more mindful, they engage more effectively, focusing on the priorities of the meeting rather than their own thoughts. Although this may sound difficult, there is a surprisingly simple series of ten steps which the chair can take to help participants enter that ‘mindful space’.