Truth, Lies and Work 241. What if meetings were the best part of your day? (Yes, really!). With Mamie Kanfer Stewart
Oct 16, 2025
Mamie Kanfer Stewart, a meeting transformation expert and host of The Modern Manager podcast, shares invaluable insights on making meetings enjoyable and effective. She explains why most meetings fail and offers frameworks for giving feedback, even upwards. Mamie reveals her 'zero to five' strategy for quick consensus and how to handle dominant voices in discussions. Plus, she emphasizes the importance of emotional management in meetings and when it’s better to send an email instead. Get ready to rethink your approach to meetings!
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Weight Criteria To Cut Through Opinion
- Use a weighted criteria matrix to rank what's most important before choosing an option.
- Quantify trade-offs to move conversations from opinions to objective comparisons.
Use Breaks To Diffuse Emotional Meetings
- When emotions flare, pause and either take a short break or reconvene later to allow re-regulation.
- Use breaks to let people process and return with calmer, more constructive perspectives.
Prebrief Hogs And Use Anonymous Input
- Prepare challenging participants by talking to them beforehand and set norms for their participation.
- Use written or anonymous inputs (virtual sticky notes, polls) to equalise voice and reduce hijacking.
