Have you ever experienced the frustration of trying to get everyone in your meeting on the same page? According to business consultant Edward de Bono, each meeting participant tends to favor a specific style of thinking. Depending on the topic, they might focus more on facts, possibilities, or negatives. Your meetings can be more productive and less stressful with this simple method that gets everyone to think using the same style.
Let’s say you’re in a meeting about budget cuts. Sandra from the operations department has a rational, unbiased point of view and suggests budget cuts for the advertising department. James from advertising responds emotionally: the advertising department is already understaffed — why did Sandra single out his department?
The problem with group problem-solving is that you can’t always know the thought process of others. This can be especially elusive in a virtual meeting, where you can’t always “read the room”. As people react to comments, details may be omitted or forgotten.
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Six Thinking Hats achieves many things that the average meeting must otherwise grapple with – such as separating fact from opinion, validating each individual’s feelings, and brainstorming possibilities without limitations. It’s a great equalizer that can help you avoid poor decision-making by eliminating bias toward one style of thinking.
The white hat doesn’t assume anything, nor does it get emotionally involved. It is associated with logic and deals strictly with data, facts, and information. In our budget-meeting example, white-hat participants would look for data about departments with the most growth, figures showing where budget cuts came from in the past, or percentages of the budget currently devoted to each department. Opinions about which departments need the most money would not be white-hat appropriate.
This method may seem unnatural at first, even awkward. You’re used to just thinking — not thinking about how you’re thinking! Focusing on one thinking style at a time may be just what you need for solving tough problems.
Six Hats can be particularly useful when problem-solving via video conference. Though separated by distance, participants may feel more like they’re in the same room when they’re all wearing the same hat.
So share this post with the participants before your next videoconference. Then have a little fun trying on each hat during your meeting. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.
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