Jake Burhans explains the recency effect: people remember only the last points discussed in meetings. His fix: end by recapping key points and asking each person to name their single biggest takeaway. This forces focus on one actionable item and turns discussion into actual behavior change.
Us human beings, we don't remember so well. We actually learn through a concept called recency, which means that we really only remember the most recent thing from a meeting. So say I have an hour-long training with my team, they're really only gonna remember like the last 1 or 2 points that I discussed. So for one, I try to recap at the end of the meeting and hit on those major bullet points, recap it for them so they go off into the day with that in their mind. I'll also ask them, hey, what is your single biggest takeaway from this meeting? Because I want them to actually consolidate that information, just take one action item away that they can actually go to change their behavior and get better. Because we could sit around talking about ideas all day, but if we don't actually take what we learned and put it into action, then nothing, nothing gets better. So always ask, hey, what's your biggest takeaway from the meeting? Play on that idea or concept of recency in learning and help them improve their day to day.
