The Shape of the Table

Jack struggled with his frustration — another meeting totally out of control. Despite his repeated, insistent requests, the sidebar conversations wouldn't stop, and now they involved more than the usual suspects. He wondered why he had ever accepted this job.

Most of us address this problem by working on our skills. That's always helpful, but we rarely consider Context — the setting in which we hold the meeting. Sometimes Context is the key.

Perhaps you recall that in the Viet Nam peace negotiations, the negotiators first spent months negotiating the shape of the table. Many observers in the U.S. considered this a sign of deadlock, but historians now agree that the issue was politically important. So it is in working environments. The shape of the table, and our positions around it, strongly influence the flow of the meeting.

The traditional configuration is a long rectangle, with the meeting leader at the head. Though there are exceptions, proximity to the leader indicates status. Since this configuration has problems, avoid it. Choose the right room for the job, and choose a room that's flexible enough to meet your needs. Here are some factors to consider.

For small meetings use a room with a round table. This facilitates frequent and spontaneous pairwise exchanges. The wrong shape can keep some people out of the action.

For larger meetings, the meeting leader should avoid sitting at one end. Instead, sit in the middle of one side. The ends are too far from each other, which makes facilitating the meeting difficult. When you sit at the middle of one side, you have good access to all participants, and they have good access to you.

For any size meeting, a long, extremely narrow table makes it difficult for people at opposite ends to participate. Multiple foci of conversation can develop more easily, spinning the meeting out of control.

Sometimes
Context
is the keySome meetings require multiple foci, if there are breakout sessions. For such meetings, you might not be able to meet in one room, but if you can, choose one that supports your breakout pattern — one that has separate tables. Push them together for the single-focus portion of the meeting, and pull them apart for breakouts. After a breakout ends, move the furniture back to a single-focus configuration. This draws a strong boundary between the single-focus and multiple-focus portions of the meeting.

Other meetings — brainstorms, for example — need no table. Choose a room without a table, or one with a table you can move to the side.

Whatever your needs, as the meeting planner, you have an advantage over the Viet Nam peace negotiators. You can decide what you want — you needn't spend three months negotiating the shape of the table. But if you do have to negotiate it, choose a room with the right table for the job.  Top    Next Issue

Do you spend your days scurrying from meeting to meeting? Do you ever wonder if all these meetings are really necessary? (They aren't) Or whether there isn't some better way to get this work done? (There is) Read 101 Tips for Effective Meetings to learn how to make meetings much more productive and less stressful — and a lot more rare. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Coaching and Haircuts

Lifelong learners use a variety of approaches, usually relying heavily on reading. Reading works well for some ideas and techniques, especially for those with limited emotional content. For adding other skills and perceptions, consider a personal coach.

The True Costs of Indirectness

Indirect communications are veiled, ambiguous, excessively diplomatic, or conveyed to people other than the actual target. We often use indirectness to avoid confrontation or to avoid dealing with conflict. It can be an expensive practice.

Achieving Goals: Inspiring Passion and Action

Achieving your goals requires both passion and action. Knowing when to emphasize passion and when to emphasize action are the keys to managing yourself, or others, toward achievement.

Bottlenecks: I

Some people take on so much work that they become "bottlenecks." The people around them repeatedly find themselves stuck, awaiting responses or decisions. Why does this happen and what are the costs?

How to Get Out of Firefighting Mode: I

When new problems pop up one after the other, we describe our response as "firefighting." We move from fire to fire, putting out flames. How can we end the madness?

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Effective Meetings for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming February 27: Brainstorming and Speedstorming: II

Recent research into the effectiveness of brainstorming has raised some questions. Motivated to examine alternatives, I ran into speedstorming. Here's Part II of an exploration of the properties of speedstorming. Available here and by RSS on February 27.

And on March 6: A Pain Scale for Meetings

Most meetings could be shorter, less frequent, and more productive than they are. Part of the problem is that we don't realize how much we do to get in our own way. If we track the incidents of dysfunctional activity, we can use the data to spot trends and take corrective action. Available here and by RSS on March 6.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrencmroZjpnMXBPcmWoner@ChacRmdkVgWgOParuCcOoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.