We had a meeting yesterday in which the results reported were less than desirable.  This is bound to happen from time to time.  What made it worse was that the information was presented as just information.  The team had a ton of questions, but the presenter did not have answers.  The longer the presentation went, the more questions that emerged and the more times the reply was simply “I don’t know.”

The outcome was that it brought stress into the meeting.  By continually driving question after question without answer when the results were negative, the group became increasingly unsettled.  The team never got the resolution it was seeking.  They were only able to ask their questions.  The presenter did not really have a plan to find answers either, just simply to look into it further.

So, how could this have gone better?

If possible, when the results are bad, bring answers and explanations as to why the results were what they were.

Even better yet, bring a plan to address the results.  Actions to improve the results inevitably lower the stress in any meeting because at least we know what to do next.