Meeting Irritations : Scheduled Stress with an Agenda!
Yes, meetings are here to stay. They are listed as one of the top reasons for feeling stressed-out at work. And it is tempting to point the finger at the meeting leader, or someone other than ourselves, when a meeting is a time-waster, a stress-producer or just less than effective. But --- just--- this----once read this list of "Irritating Meeting Behaviors" below and note if any of these behaviors apply to YOU. Resist the tendency to identify others who exhibit these traits and therefore overlook our own areas of development. Try just focusing on you and what you can do differently the next time you find yourself in a meeting. Directions: The following list are common ways we make meetings time consuming and unproductive. Make a mental note of the ones you suspect might be true for you and then work to make a few changes of your meeting persona. -Withholding your point of view until late in the brainstorming process. -Being too serious. Resisting ‘small talk’ before a meeting begins. -Interrupting others -Wasting the team's time by discussing personal agendas (i.e., 'my supervisor doesn’t know what’s going on in the organization' or 'my department would never go for this.') -Being picky about specifics early in the planning stages. -Appearing disorganized -Appearing indifferent -Using biting humor or sarcasm -Being too blunt -Taking over the discussion -Not willing to discuss new ways or new ideas -Being overly-concerned with group harmony -Using too much humor; being seen as having too much fun -Talking an issue to death -Stubbornly sticking to one idea (usually your own contribution!) -Being perfectionistic -Appearing out of touch with other's experiences/workday -Being fiercely attached to an idea or belief not held by others -Talking too much or randomly interjecting ideas. This also goes for whispering to the person sitting next to you while someone else has the floor. -Being overly intellectual (know-it-all syndrome) -Not considering other's opinions -Looking for flaws in other's opinions (also called playing devil’s advocate) -Being unappreciative of other's contributions or ideas -Proposing too many possibilities Be the change you want to see in your meetings. Whatever you think is lacking in a meeting--bring the very trait you desire to your next meeting.
What if you're not sure how to deal with meeting stress, fear of leading meetings, worry about your performance in a meeting, and other workplace anxiety-producers (much less BE the change you want to see)? Here's something that can kick-start your efforts on having your act together for ALL of your meetings:
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