Taming Your Meeting Meddlers Infographic

Taming Your Meeting Meddlers. Time wasted in meetings. The average office worker spends around sixteen hours in meetings per week. [1] As much as fifty percent of meeting time is unproductive. [2] Forty seven percent of people say that meetings are their biggest waste of time at work. [3] Know Your Meeting Meddlers. Sometimes, the people you encounter in meetings can derail them completely. Here are ten meeting ‘characters’ to look out for and how you can tackle them. Meeting Meddler number one. The Overly Talkative Type. Rambles on and on without contributing anything of value. What to do. Ask. Can you summarize your point. or Could you clarify how this issue relates to our subject. If the discussion is taking too long, use the GEPO technique to gain control. It stands for Good Enough, Press On. Use it to move to the next issue and stay focused. [4] Meeting Meddler number two. The Argumentative One. May come to the meeting upset about something. Creates a heated meeting atmosphere. What to do. Use a defusing technique. At the start, say that opinions may differ and ask people to keep an open mind. Respond to the content of what the person is saying, not the emotion. Say. Let me make sure I understand you. Your major point is. Focus on finding a solution. Say. You’ve described a problem for us. How would you suggest that this issue could be resolved. Meeting Meddler number three The Topic Twister. Diverts attention from the main issues. Brings up topics or ideas that are less relevant or important. What to do. Circulate a clear agenda in advance. It should cover the main topics, who will lead each part of the discussion and timescales for each section. [5] Store distractions in a holding area. Revisit them once the main issues have been addressed. Meeting Meddler number four. The Side Conversationalist. Continues talking when the rest of the group has moved on. Whispers to those around them when others are talking. What to do. Make eye contact and move nearer to them if you can. Ask. Would you like to share your thoughts with the group. or Should we add what you’re discussing to our agenda. Meeting Meddler number five. The Dominator. Likes to be the center of attention. May know a lot about the topic in hand. Prevents new ideas being developed and discussed. What to do. Say. Thanks for those suggestions, does anyone have any other ideas. or I would like to open this up for discussion across the group. Meeting Meddler number 6. The Cynic. Saps creativity and enthusiasm. Says. It can’t be done or we tried this before and it didn’t work. What to do. Encourage a positive, upbeat atmosphere and model positive behavior yourself. Use conflict management techniques to help them to see problems from a different perspective. Meeting Meddler number seven. The Last One In. Consistently arrives late for meetings, when others are on time. What to do. Say in the meeting invite that the meeting will begin on time and ask participants to be punctual. Give persistent latecomers an important role at the start of the meeting. Meeting Meddler number eight. The Distracted One. Uses their phone or laptop during meetings which diverts their attention and distracts others. What to do. Set ground rules for acceptable mobile phone use during meetings. At the start, ask people to TTO Turn Technology Off. [6] Let people know when breaks will be and when the meeting will end. Meeting Meddler number nine. The Silent Type. Sits back and lets others do all the work. Gives very little input or ideas. What to do. Ask everyone to give their views or suggestions using a round the table approach. Use interaction to encourage contributions. Ask open-ended questions and assign roles to participants. Meeting Meddler number ten. The Devil’s Advocate. Takes the opposite view at every opportunity. Can be argumentative and sidetrack the meeting. What to do. Encourage other people to contribute and defuse the situation. Say. It’s great to hear a different perspective. But let’s look at the facts we have.
References

[1] Rebecca Burn-Callander ‘UK workers waaste a year of their lives in useless meetings’ Management Today,(18 March 2013).Available at: http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1175002/ (accessed 8 October 2014).

[2] ‘Introduction to Great Meetings’, 3M Worldwide. Available at: http://www.3rd-force.org/meetingnetwork/readingroom/meetingguide_make.html (accessed 8 October 2014).

[3] ‘$37 billion per year in unnecessary meetings, what is your share?’ Meeting King (21 October 2013), Available at: http://meetingking.com/37-billion-per-year-unnecessary-meetings-share/ (accessed 8 October 2014).

[4] Mike Song, Tim Burress and Vicki Halsey, Taming Meeting Monsters, TD Magazine (23 October 2009). Available at: http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2009/10/Taming-Meeting-Monsters (accessed 8 October 2014).

[5] Eric Matson, ‘The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings’, Fast Company Magazine (30 April 1996). Available at: http:/

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