6

Meet the Flight Crew: The Process People

When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people telling you that you are nuts.

—LARRY ELLISON

For a successful flight to occur, there are three distinct roles that must be performed by two or three process people. I call them the Pilot, the Air Traffic Controller, and the Flight Recorder. In an ideal world the Pilot, Air Traffic Controller, and Flight Recorder would be dedicated process people and not meeting participants, but I don’t for a moment expect you to have that luxury. In the vast majority of meetings, the three process people will also be participants at the meeting.

Initially, people may find it distracting to play one of the process roles and be a participant. However, the roles are really simple, and like anything you learn, you first have to focus a lot of conscious attention on it, and then after a while it becomes automatic and easy. Do you remember what it was like to learn how to drive? You had to concentrate on every detail, but now you can probably drive miles and not even consciously remember the trip.

Let’s meet the crew.

THE PILOT

The Pilot is the chair of the meeting and is responsible for navigating everyone successfully through the Flight Plan and agenda so that people arrive at their destination on time. Pilots are the primary timekeepers. They need to pay attention to the time allotted to each agenda item, making sure it starts and ends on time.

Within a particular agenda item, there might be some distinct subprocesses that need to be timed. For example, on a 30-minute agenda item, the new XYZ ruling, there might be a 5-minute presentation, a 5-minute question and answer, and a 20-minute discussion. Pilots need to make sure the flight stays on schedule according to the Flight Plan by monitoring the time for each process in an agenda item.

Last but not least, Pilots also make sure that participants stay within their speaking time limit. This is for everyone’s safety and security so that the meeting doesn’t get hijacked.

COMPLETING AGENDA ITEMS

When an agenda item is complete, the Pilot (or sometimes the Flight Recorder) verbally summarizes to the group what has been done or decided and what the next steps will be:

•   What has been discussed

•   Decisions

•   Next steps

•   Who will take the next steps

•   When will those steps be taken

The Flight Recorder can use a copy of the agenda document to fill out this information in the last category of the Flight Plan, which is “Who is doing what and when.”

THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

The Air Traffic Controller has a huge responsibility to create focus and balance participation. In the next two chapters we will go into great detail on how this is done.

For now, to harness focus, the Air Traffic Controller will note on an erasable visual device that everyone can see the topic at each moment and the process being used (discussion, brainstorming, or something else). Then everyone knows what we are talking about and how we are talking about it.

The Air Traffic Controller is also responsible for the speaking order, giving participants clearance to speak, so that assertive people don’t talk over one another and passive people don’t withdraw. I call the speaking order the Queue, and from this point on, I will use Q for short. A Q can be voluntary, with people raising their hand to get in it, or the Q can be circular, in which case, you go around the room and hear from everyone.

THE FLIGHT RECORDER

The Flight Recorder’s role will be critical to getting the flight into Holographic Thinking. We will go into greater detail in Chapter 9. The important point for now is that the Flight Recorder uses either a flip chart or a computer hooked up to a monitor or projector to record information during the meeting that summarizes people’s points of view.

The Flight Recorder’s prime responsibility is to capture people’s ideas and contributions accurately. Flight Recorders do not take notes word for word. They capture with accuracy the important points people make in as few words as possible. I recommend that Flight Recorders write the same words that a speaker is using because those words are meaningful to the speaker. If Flight Recorders are not sure what to write, they may ask the speaker for clarification to make sure the recording is accurate.

It will also be the Flight Recorder’s responsibility to make sure everyone receive the follow-up information they need and notes from the meeting.

THE MINUTES

If you are in the type of meeting where detailed minutes need to be kept, it is best to have a person dedicated to that function. The level of detail depends on legal requirements. Flight recording differs from minutes in the level of detail.

The function of flight recording is to create functional notes so that people can see the hologram. Too much detail in flight recording might obscure the hologram.

THE COMMITMENT KEEPER

This is an optional role that tracks actions people volunteer to take after the meeting. I have found this useful, particularly with volunteer working boards in which board members take action after a meeting. If a board meets every quarter for a two-day board meeting, it is easy to volunteer to take care of certain items and then just as easily forget about them once the meeting is over or to simply overcommit oneself.

Commitment Keepers write down any commitments people make over the course of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, they e-mail a summary of those commitments to all attendees. The Commitment Keeper should confirm the nature of the commitment with the person making the commitment at the time it is made to make sure that it is recorded accurately. It is possible for the Flight Recorder to be the Commitment Keeper and just use a separate document or flip chart page for commitments.

THE COPILOTS

This group represents everyone else in the meeting. I call them copilots because they too have responsibilities as keepers of the process. If the group goes off course, everyone has the right and responsibility to speak out and correct course by pointing it out. This is the only time people can speak without clearance from Air Traffic Control.

The process is not something that is inflicted upon others but rather one that everyone takes ownership of.

MERGING ROLES

In face-to-face meetings, I usually recommend having three people assume the three different roles using two different visual devices, one for the Air Traffic Controller with the topic, process, and speaking order and another for the Flight Recorder.

In a virtual meeting via computer, you share only one screen. That screen needs to be for flight recording. In virtual meetings, I have found it possible for one person to perform all three roles. The downside is that it will be harder for that individual to participate as well. Having two people is better, with Air Traffic Control essentially divided between the Pilot and the Flight Recorder.

The Pilot can watch the time and oversee the speaking order part of Air Traffic Control by keeping a list of the participants who have their virtual hand raised or calling on the next person when using a circular order. The Flight Recorder has control of the screen everyone is seeing, and is capturing the thoughts that people are sharing to create Holographic Thinking. But remember, the Air Traffic Controller also has the important responsibility to create focus on the topic and process. If the Flight Recorder uses PowerPoint, I have found that it works well to put the current topic and process in the title area of the slide and then record people’s thoughts as bullets in the body of the slide.

ROTATING THE CREW

I recommend that the roles of the Pilot, Air Traffic Controller, and Flight Recorder be rotated so that everyone develops these skills in taking responsibility for the meeting. However, certain skills may predispose certain people to handling certain processes. For example, the Flight Recorder should be a person with legible handwriting if using a flip chart or good typing skills if using a computer.

Do not assume that the Pilot will be the most senior person in the organizational hierarchy. That person may want to be simply a participant, or may feel that others will be more encouraged to share their thoughts if the boss is not in charge.

In general, rotating the roles also helps distribute responsibility for the process, creates greater ownership, and prepares attendees when the usual process people cannot attend.

Process people are allowed to make necessary process comments without clearance from Air Traffic Control, such as the Flight Recorder’s clarifying what to write to represent the speaker’s point accurately. But as participants, they play by the same rules as everyone else. Pilots and Flight Recorders signal Air Traffic Controllers when they want to get in the Q, and Air Traffic Controllers put themselves in the Q if they have something to say.

The Terminator

We were constantly interrupting each other during meetings, but we had one person, Joe, who excelled at it. Without directly identifying Joe, we acknowledged as a group that we had to do something about it. So we established the role of Terminator to be the person who would collect a quarter from anyone who interrupted someone else.

At the next meeting, when we all sat down, Joe pulled something out of his pocket. He slammed two rolls of quarters on the table and said, “I’m in!” We all laughed and laughed. Before we knew it, all of us—including Joe—became good at not interrupting.

—Middle manager, Telecommunications company

SUMMARY

Process People and Their Responsibilities

1.  The Pilot

•   Navigates the agenda

•   Makes sure the meeting stays on course and on time

•   Tells people how long they have to speak

•   Wraps up agenda items

•   Makes decisions on the fly if more time is needed for one topic and where the time will come from

2.  The Air Traffic Controller

•   Takes care of the visual focus device

•   Keeps the topic and process boxes current and accurate

•   Tracks the speaking order and gives people clearance to speak

3.  The Flight Recorder

•   Writes the summarized discussion points

•   Notes every thought and perspective

•   Sends summaries to all attendees after the meeting

4.  The Commitment Keeper (may also be the Flight Recorder)

•   Keeps a log of the commitments of participants and distributes them after the meeting

5.  Passengers and Copilots

•   Play by the rules of the Meeting Jet process

•   Speak up if the meeting is going off course