Meetings are often seen as a necessary evil: A way to get everyone together and on the same page, perhaps, but not good for more than that. In his book, “Good to Great,” Jim Collins talks about the use of the non-agenda meeting as a way of achieving an enhanced understanding of reality.

The ask questions, non-agenda meeting is one in which the senior party comes together with team members to gain a clearer picture of their viewpoints. Rather than come in with an agenda or a presentation, the members come and answer such simple questions as, “What’s on your mind,” “Is there anything we should know,” and “What are your concerns.”

By asking questions and being open to where the discussion takes them, a leader can learn about the realities of daily operations. The idea is not to ask questions that force your subordinates to agree with you. The idea is to ask questions that bring you a deeper understanding of a function or problem.

To lead in this way, you have to be confident in your ability to keep the meeting on task. You also have to be self-assured enough to hear things you might not like. Perhaps one of your initiatives to improve productivity is actually hampering productivity because of an unforeseen glitch. You may not want to hear it, but the sooner you do, the sooner you can take actions to remedy the problem.

Leading in this way also ensures that all voices at the table are heard. It brings you information from all corners of your organization, giving you a broader picture than you’d have if you only received information that had been filtered on its way to you.

Collins says that, “good-to-great leaders made particularly good use of informal meetings where they’d meet with groups of managers and employees with no script, agenda, or set of action items to discuss.” These meetings were effective because they “became a forum where current realities tended to bubble to the surface.”

Why not give it a try?