1. Creating the Most Productive Group Meeting Communications Atmosphere
TABenos™
Creating the Most Productive Group Meeting Communications Atmosphere
The objective of this TABenos program is twofold.
One objective is to help set guidelines that will bring about the most productive TAB Board meeting communication atmosphere.
The second objective is to show each of you how to bring TABenos to your management team meetings within your own companies.
Seeing me facilitate the TABenos exercises with you as TAB Board members will help you become effective in bringing about these same exercises and same benefits in your businesses.
If you use TABenos in your team meetings, your teams will function better.
Your businesses will run more effectively if TABenos becomes part of your group meeting culture

2. Greek Mythology
What do the Ancient Olympic Games have to do with TABenos?
Every four years heralds would be dispatched across the Greek world to announce the approach of the Olympiad, and also to proclaim the Olympic Truce (ekecheiria ) whereby all wars and acts of aggression would be suspended for the duration of the competition. It was a safe environment.
Safe environment thought of with the ancient Greek word Temenos, which means sanctuary, a place warriors could lay down their armor without fear
TAB has coined the phrase TABenos, which is word play from the word Temenos.

3. TABenos Objective
Create a communications group meeting atmosphere in which everyone feels safe and comfortable in expressing their views in an open and honest manner
In the TAB Board context, TABenos brings about a very safe environment where TAB members can be open and honest, and trust others to be the same
TABenos is completely open communication, which will result in members obtaining the greatest benefits possible from the TAB Board Meetings.
TABenos communications requires:
the honesty to speak the truth, as we know it
the openness to express it from our heart
the trust that no one will use what we say to harm us.
These same benefits will happen with team meetings within your company if you follow the same exercise process that I am going to show you.

4. Desired TABenos Meeting Culture
Each member helps other members to achieve greater personal and business success
Only in an environment of complete safety and honesty can members receive the peer-inspired impetus to take action while feeling relief from personal stress.
Only when members have given up being defensive of their positions can they begin to see where they can make improvements or corrections.
Only when members trust each other with the details of their business and personal lives will they be able to uncover their real sources of worry or concern, and begin to face those areas openly, instead of carrying these burdens alone.
The Facilitator is responsible for creating the meeting environment.
We cannot change the natural behavior of our members. However, members will adapt their behavior at the meetings if the Facilitator has put in motion the factors that lead to a TABenos™ environment.

5. Facilitating TABenos Exercises
Three questions
Each participant provides one response to each question until called on two times
Responses cannot exceed a few words
I will go around the group and call on each of you two times with your response to each of my three questions
Responses written where they can be easily seen by everyone
I need a volunteer to write down on this sheet/board each of the responses. After the meeting the responses will be typed up and ed for each of you to see before the next meeting.
Make sure the responses are very easy for everyone there to read when participating. Make sure magic marker is ready for the volunteer writing out the responses.

6. Armor What does communication armor look like?
WHEN WE FIRST STARTED USING TABENOS, WE HAD SEPARATE QUESTIONS FOR IDENTIFYING WEAPONS AND ARMOR. WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT MOST OF THE SAME THINGS WERE IDENTIFIED TO BE BOTH WEAPONS AND ARMOR, FOR EXAMPLE SARCASM. SO, NOW WE ONLY ASK FOR THINGS THAT MAKE UP ARMOR BE IDENTIFIED
Identify armor that you personally use. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing this information, identify armor that you recognize others using. Examples of common answers of what communications armor looks like include:
Trying to control the discussion
Combative, unreasonable or argumentative
Negative body language
Disingenuous
Hurtful sarcasm
Not listening or disengaging
Anger
Condescending language
Defensive
Disrespect
Abusive language
Deflection
Arrogance
Repetition
Blame game
Reacting to the messenger, not the message
Excessive humor

7. What’s Needed
2. What factors have to be present at a group meeting for you to feel safe, honest and open?
This question deals with factors that you personally need.
Some common answers include:
Confidentiality
Trust
Not viewing the same set of facts differently
No yelling
Positive tone
No threats of reprisals
No one is trying to take advantage of you
Others respect your self esteem
Ability to compromise
Shared positive experiences
No presumption of malice
No hidden agendas
Non judgmental
Desire for win – win
No sarcasm
Be factual
Sincerity
Empathy
Be open to the outcome
Being fair

8. TABenos™ Agreement
Raise your hand if you are in agreement to avoid any of the actions that give rise to armor
The fourth step of the TABenos™ exercise involves the buy in and commitment.
Does anyone need clarification on any of the armor items that have been written down or any of the factors needed to be present for each of you to feel safe, honest and open?
No one can put up armor during a meeting
If a member needs clarification, the person who gave the response explains what he or she means.
If, after clarification, any member disagrees with an item on the list, the item is struck because unanimous commitment to what is on the list is needed for TABenos™ to work.
Tweak the words on the list as needed to clarify their meaning
Are we now all in agreement on the words on the commitment lists?

9. Commitment
You must call TABenos on anybody at the meeting who violates the TABenos commitment
It can’t be dependent on me as the facilitator to call TABenos on a group member when the party has violated our TABenos commitment.
It is up to each of you to keep the communications within the TABenos commitment
Each member is responsible for pointing out any displays of armor or communications that cause armor to appear.
On one board, they use the time-out sign (the “T” indicating TABenos, not Time-Out) to indicate that TABenos is being violated.
Can I get an agreement from all of you that if any of the armor or communications that cause armor to appear takes place in conversations among you, you will explain that TABenos™ is being violated by saying something like “John, your raised voice is a violation of our TABenos™ culture” or by using the time-out sign?

10. Benefits 3. What will be gained by using TABenos in our meetings?
Common answers include:
Greater growth and prosperity for the business
Ideas and suggestions of members will be heard to a greater degree
Will enjoy being around each other more, whether inside or outside the business
Business initiatives will be executed in a more timely manner and with greater clarity
Greater fairness
More teamwork
Will feel more respected
Enjoy life more
Greater collaboration
Better understanding of short versus long term objectives members will present their ideas, views and interests without being intimidated
Needs of other members will be honored
More respect to member employees from non- member employees