Job Discussion Forums

[johnslat]

"Brainstorming? More like brain drain - meetings cause a measurable drop in people's IQs, say researchers

Social pressures cause people's IQ to drop
Women affected worse than men
Measurable effect on intelligence test tasks

"Meetings don't just eat up time in the workplace, they actually make groups of people stupider, says new research.
Working in a group makes people perform worse on intelligence tests, as some group members are so anxious about doing well that they 'divert' their brain power towards maintaining their social status in the group.
'You may joke about how committee meetings make you feel brain dead, but our findings suggest that they may make you act brain dead as well,' said Read Montague the study leader at Virginia Tech.
Groups of volunteers showed measurable drops in IQ when asked to perform intelligence tests socially, with the results broadcast to the group.
Some people performed well in the 'social' tests, but others were affected badly - and overall, performance dropped.
Women appear to feel this pressure more than men - only three out of 13 female volunteers performed well in a social environment, with 10 out of 13 finding that their peformance dropped.
The researchers used a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to monitor how people's brains responded - and found that bad peformers tended to show activity in parts of their brain that dealt with emotions and anxiety.
We started with individuals who were matched for their IQ,' said Montague. 'Yet when we placed them in small groups, ranked their performance on tasks against their peers, and broadcast the rankings, we saw dramatic drops in the ability of some study subjects to solve problems.'
'Our study highlights the unexpected and dramatic consequences even subtle social signals in group settings may have on the individual,' said lead author Kenneth Kishida.
'We don't know how much these effects are present in real-world settings. By placing an emphasis on competition, for example, are we missing a large segment of the talent pool?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2097737/Meetings-cause-measurable-drop-peoples-IQs-say-researchers.html

Of course, in some cases, no further drop would be possible.

Regards,
John

[AGoodStory]

[Mikalina]

I was always aware in meetings that I am working to keep my place in the pecking order whilst analysing that pecking order and seeing if I can jump a level iso as to make my 'twopenceworth' visable cus it's only the stuff seen and minuted that gets actioned. If you are new to a meeting, don't bother with any contribution. You will be minuted out - part of the deal even the typist knows.

The only time I was truly effective was when i was on a six month contract and didn't care about my future - said what I wanted AND banged the desk (in Britain, this is hitting the desk with ones fist) to emphasise my point.

[spiral78]

I've always felt that whatever input someone offers in a meeting is very much coloured by his/her status in the group. Good suggestions from someone with low status clearly don't get their due, and it's obvious that suggestions from high-status members are much more strongly weighted by all.

In my recent experience, this occurs particularly when the high-status member happens to be management - even/especially when that management member is poorly qualified and incompentent

As a side note, has anyone else noticed that there is a large percentage of people who feel that conferring a title on someone also automatically implies that he/she can actually do the job, regardless of whether he/she actually has any related qualifications or experience?

[Zero]

Well it's supposed to be like that -- positional power. Somebody has to be in charge, qualifications or no qualifications. Otherwise it's called a hippie commune.

[DebMer]

I'm starting a list of things to avoid if I want to make it to old age with my brain intact.

1. Corporate meetings
2. Mainstream news sources
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Kool Aid
5.
(anybody care to add?)

[Mikalina]

Buy one, get one free....

[AGoodStory]

[johnslat]

Dear AGoodStory,

Your post reminded me of this saying, "It's amazing what you can get accomplished when you don't care who gets the credit."

I suspect many of us have experienced what you wrote about - having an idea appropriated by someone "higher up on the food chain." And it can rankle.

But I found it a very useful ploy in Saudi. As coordinator of an English Language Center there, I'd sometimes save time and trouble by putting some necessary changes in place without first "consulting" with the director (a Saudi.)

Many times, he never even noticed the changes, but on the few occasions he did (someone else probably mentioned it to him), I'd congratulate him for bringing about such an improvement. If he seemed puzzled, I'd "remind" him that it was really HIS idea that he'd mentioned to me a few weeks back.

He always bought that explanation .

Regards,
John

[sharter]

Avoid Dr. Phil......he doesn't like Bum Fights.

[artemisia]

In the most of the meetings I attend, there�s so much unnecessary repetition that I feel this must help to ward off any impending rise of stupidity rates. (If you missed it the first time, there�ll be plenty of chances to hear it again � and in some detail). I haven�t noticed any particular vying to have one�s voice heard, but that could well be due to most of the energy in the room being channelled into attempts to look like you�re really with it and alert.

Meetings have the almost immediate effect of sending me into a comatose-like state. (I think of this as a sort of preservation of brain function). I once nodded off in one in a previous job. I awoke to find everyone sniggering and the head saying �Looks like we�d better wrap this up...�. No competition there...

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Like classroom lessons, most ineffective meetings are a result of poor planning. An agenda must be set and then adhered to; too many meetings become personal soapboxes for those with petty complaints which have little relevance for most meeting attendees.
I can think of very few instances in which a staff meeting longer than 45-60 minutes is necessary.

[cmp45]

[coledavis]

There are psychological factors at play here, not just the politics and inefficiencies of meetings. One is the influence of other people on how people think, consciously and otherwise; there is plenty of evidence from experiments in social psychology that people's judgments are heavily influenced by the perceived attitudes of others even where there are no tangible rewards or penalties in place.

Also, I have long been of the opinion that it is obviously better to spend some time alone considering a problem. I was recently reading an extension of this line of thought in Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, fast and slow, where the author recommends managers to ask each individual for their considered opinion (in writing) on a subject before any group discussion takes place.

[AGoodStory]