I’ve attended meetings from time to time which have been hosted by individuals in other companies and I have also participated in meetings hosted by individuals in our company. I always tend to be amazed when I attend those meetings about how little time and attention is spent on the art of framing.
What I mean by the art of framing is the opportunity that an individual has to take control over the context and environment in which a discussion is going to take place in order to provide not only the outer dimension of the conversation, but also the tone and nuances which are going to end up being addressed within the conversation.
By doing so, the opportunities to both direct the conversation and to achieve very specific objectives are so much more enhanced, to fail to do so not only risks the possibility of not achieving those objectives, but even produce an unsatisfactory result across the board.
What are the elements of framing?
1. Introduction. Make sure everybody understands not only who’s at the table, but what position they have in their company. This portion of the conversation is extremely cordial and is an opportunity to have you set the tone as much as provide the backdrop for the specific individuals involved.
2. Lay Out the Objectives of the Discussion. Before you actually launch into the discussion, identify what it is you are all there to discuss. Be specific with respect to the objectives or, when it is not clear as to what the objectives would be, be clear about that lack of clarity. It is perfectly appropriate to indicate there are four major objectives you’d like to see addressed and after identifying the first, second and third, you can then indicate, “fourth” I’d like to see…..
3. Trace the History. It always amazes me when individuals just start launching into the discussion at particular points. By tracing the history that brought you to this particular discussion, it gives you an opportunity to communicate to everybody what your view of that history is and it also allows you to find out afterwards if they have a different sense of that history. As a matter of fact, in an opportunity to elicit collaboration, you find yourself appropriately remarking when there is ambiguity in that history and it also allows you to frame towards soliciting feedback as to that history when it wasn’t totally clear as to how you got there. Nonetheless, by going through the history, it gives you an opportunity to determine where everybody is in that revision. Moreover, it allows you the chance to address certain nuances that will begin the process of directing you towards a specific subject.
4. Pick a Starting Point in the Conversation. You have very specific objectives that have already been identified. Pick where you want to begin. By framing, you’ve earned the right.
5. Listen for the Truth of What’s Being Said. Words matter. But words are words. What matters most is the truth of what those words are actually conveying…and they are not always in the words. By listening far more intently, and speaking far more sparingly, you have the opportunity to extract out of the conversation the ultimate truth of not only what people believe to be true, but very possibly what is true. And regardless of whether you agree in whole or in part with that truth, what you have the chance to see is where opportunity lies, and even more specifically, where that opportunity interconnects with what your objectives are.
I’ve called this at different times either “listening like a hawk or grokking—listening with all pores open.”
6. Test Various Points for Clarity. “So, if we were to approach it in the following way…do you believe it would work out the way you want it to?” By testing particular scenarios, it gives you an opportunity to see what lies ahead as well as to explore potential points of derailment.
7. Take-Aways. One by one, the objective of testing is to clarify the specific takeaways that will support the ultimate result. Wait until you’ve completed the process and then “declare” the take-away.
8. Recap. When you are complete, no discussion should ever be left without a recap. The recap has to be specific, with clear takeaways and a very specific timeline for those takeaways. Everyone needs to understand exactly what comes next and who is responsible for that.
Framing is the art by which a general conversation can morph into a directed collaboration. It follows a simple process and is very effective. However, absent the process, results are rarely achieved. Hope this helps.
Original writing date: April 14, 2008