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28 CAREER ADVICE FOR LIFE SCIENTISTS

Communicating Effectively in

Departmental Meetings

Maureen Brandon

Idaho State University

Virginia Allen

Idaho State University

W

hy are some individuals effective at pro-

moting their projects, while other equally

meritorious ideas are never advanced?

How do you get your own innovative plans accepted

and initiated by your organization? At least part of the

answer may come from understanding the group

dynamics of meetings.

There are many reasons why colleagues do not voice

supporting opinions in a public forum. A few common

ones are:

• They may need time to think about the idea before
  forming an opinion.


• They do not want to align themselves with the
  speaker.


• They want the meeting to be over.


• They are not paying attention.


• They are part of the group only to pad their resume
  or because it seems un-community-spirited to
  decline to serve but they never intended to partici-
  pate fully.


• They are competing with the speaker for position or
  power, or have a competing proposal.

One successful strategy to counteract several of

these problems is to solicit opinions or support from

fellow group members before the meeting, either in

person or by e-mail. This method allows others time to

consider a proposal and formulate support — although

it also carries an inherent risk of allowing time to for-

mulate opposition. In any case, it is likely that when

participants are aware of an idea prior to the meeting,

they will pay closer attention when it comes up for dis-

cussion in a group. Compromises with competing indi-

viduals can also be addressed ahead of time, further

increasing the chances of success. In general, this is a

skill that men have developed better than women.