When You've Reached an Impasse in Your Meeting

What happens when you can’t reach consensus in a meeting? Whether it’s two people who are at loggerheads or the entire group that can’t get on the same page, how do you move forward? Stay with the conversation. It’s important to trust one another and the process. Acknowledge what’s happening. Then visually capture the essence of what has been said. Displaying the conversation by taking notes on a white board ensures that people’s comments are captured. Step in and suggest a path forward or ask others to. When a conversation is going nowhere, step in and offer your sense of where the conversation stands and suggest where it might go next. Remind the group to assume positive intent. Keep the conversation as kind and as gracious as possible. And ask them to listen to one another. Lastly, avoid voting on the issue, which often leads to an unhappy minority. Instead, agree to strive for consensus and keep the process open until everyone is satisfied with the solution.

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