ABSTRACT
Effective teams also keep communication focused on the task and the goal during meetings. Focused communication refers to “the degree to which group members stick to the issue during a management meeting; that is, whether a group refrains from digressions and/or goal-irrelevant behaviors.” Unfocused communication can often be likened to what happens when people hit a billiard ball and it strikes several other balls. A number of empirical studies have indicated that task-focused communication is positively associated with task performance, team viability, and member well-being in meetings. Adequately focused discussions start with a clearly stated goal for the discussion and with team members sharing comments, questions, and opinions that are mostly relevant to the issue and bringing the team toward the goal for the discussion. All members of a management team will probably profit from reflecting on how people contribute to derailments and unfocused communication in the management meetings.
