When it comes to 'change' in your organization, simply paying attention to simple Communication Theory is a powerful guide. Meetings are a great place to start. Nowhere else can a group of talented people waste such vast amounts of time and make really bad decisions than in meetings.
Here is a nugget of truth for you: Multiple people cannot make a single decision.
Fact of life. This is why leadership is so important. This is why meetings are fodder for poor decision making and time management. One of the most important things you can do as an organization is constantly improve your meeting prowess. Listening is the natural place to start.
Here is another nugget: When someone is talking, you should be listening.
Sounds so simple yet it gets forgotten all the time. There are many reasons why someone should be listening with the intent to understand and not simply respond:
1. Humans don't actually multitask all that well. We think we do it better than we really do. It is almost impossible for anyone to effectively listen to someone and be thinking about their response at the same time. We think it's a skill we should be working on, it's not.
2. When you are thinking about your response, and trying to listen to someone else at the same time you are not 'in the moment'. If you aren't 'in the moment' you are somewhere else and more importantly you are probably only thinking about you. You are focused on you and that includes your body as well as your brain. You preoccupy yourself into irrelevancy.
3. Because you have been thinking about what you are going to say, you are probably going to say it. Which is exactly why meetings run long. By not thinking about what you are going to say, and listening to what was said, you can make a more informed decision about whether you need to open your mouth or not.
4. If you are thinking about what you are going to say, it's because you don't really know what you want to say. It is simply better to keep your mouth shut your ears open and continue to learn by listening to the wisdom of others. You are there because you have expertise, expertise that you shouldn't have to think about.
5. If you start your response off with: "I would like to go back to what Joe said..." you probably shouldn't be talking. Don't go back. You have been thinking about what Joe said while the rest of the meeting has moved on. Move forward, if you had something great to say 5 minutes ago, it's probably not so great anymore.
6. People that don't listen tend to have an agenda. Don't be that guy. If you do have an agenda at least listen to the opinions of others, since they might differ, they might actually be helpful.
Humans may be bad at multitasking, but we are really good at synthesizing information quickly and making expert judgements in scant units of time.
The time to think is really while you are speaking. You can do this because you are going to speak slowly and with purpose. Before you open your mouth you really only need to know where you want to end up when you are done. Everything else will come out naturally.
The great news is, we have lot's of meetings! So you have plenty of opportunities as an organization to get better at it. You should be getting better at it.
All programs that aim to help in the communication process employ some kind of feedback mechanism or loop. The signs are pretty obvious, when you see the telltale markers let people know. Use the sandwich approach: something good then something to improve then something good. Wait until after the meeting of course. This way people don't always get the negative, and you can do it privately.
The best part of implementing feedback loops is when people begin to offer their own performance up. The feedback loop must always be a safe, constructive, positive experience. If it is people will welcome it, they will ask for it. If people are asking for feedback then you are doing it right.
Good luck and good listening!