| 10 Annoying Meeting Behaviors
Michael Hyatt spends hours of his life in meetings and has created a list of what he calls “AMBs” (Annoying Meeting Behaviors). He graciously listed them recently on his blog, saying that “none of these by themselves are that bothersome. But when you combine three or four of them in the same meeting, it can test the patience of Job.” Consider your own behavior in ministry or church staff meetings and see if you can learn anything from Hyatt’s insight below:
- Late arrival. Hyatt says this behavior wastes time, forces the group to start the meeting over, and “screams, ‘I’m disorganized!’” about the perpetrator. Make sure to show up to meetings on time.
- Taking phone calls. Calling this the most obnoxious behavior on his list, Hyatt advises meeting members to courteously excuse themselves and step out of the meeting to answer a call, waiting until they are out the door to actually answer it.
- Checking e-mail. Similar to taking a phone call, this projects to the others in the meeting that you have something more important to do than pay attention. “Leave your laptop in your office unless you need it for a presentation…and resist the urge to pull out the Blackberry or iPhone every five minutes to check your messages.”
- Engaging in side conversation. Good meetings have only one conversation happening at a time; side conversations are distracting and can prevent the meeting leader from maintaining full control. “If you must follow-up with someone,” Hyatt says, “write yourself a note and do it after the meeting.”
- Not taking notes. This behavior says, “There’s nothing going on in this meeting worth remembering.”
- Talking too much. Make sure you’re allowing others to speak, and refrain from commenting on absolutely everything that’s said.
- Interrupting others. “The worst form of this is the person who randomly changes the subject,” says Hyatt. Wait until the person talking is finished before you interject.
- Not coming prepared. People notice when someone comes unprepared to a meeting. The meeting members expect you to contribute to it; “if you don’t, people assume you haven’t done your homework,” says Hyatt.
- Chasing rabbits. “The sooner you get through your agenda, the sooner you can get back to your office to get some real work done,” reminds Hyatt. “Stay focused! You can do it!”
- Not speaking up. Hyatt encourages leaders to “speak up or bow out.” Don’t just sit quietly throughout the whole meeting; offer something of use to others.
Hyatt says all these annoying meeting behaviors stem from a lack of respect for the others. “How much more productive could we make our meetings if we all showed one another respect and eliminated these behaviors?”
From a blog post by Michael Hyatt, MichaelHyatt.com |
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