How to deal with business meeting pet peeves
Meetings are especially difficult for presenters: standing before everyone in the room gives them a general view of everything – the attendees’ reaction and what they are doing.
Being aware of everything can be a form of distraction and that’s why it is important to keep everyone interested in the topic of conversation.
Giving a presentation can be a difficult task if you are not trained or knowledgeable on handling distractions in a meeting room. Fret no more, as we are about to help you to dispel these unnecessary disturbances.
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Talk is cheap
Almost all professionals hate it when there is no clear meeting agenda and there is seemingly a lot of mindless talk. It’s even worse when the chairperson or leader doesn’t assign individuals to document or minute the things that transpire.
Facilitators must be dedicated to keeping the ‘talk’ to a minimum. When everyone speaks up about relevant points that matter to the agenda, the meeting should conclude with a desirable ending. People must also commit to their assigned tasks, such as documentation and minutes, to keep things on track.
Lost in direction
When there is no clear agenda everyone starts to get a little cheesed off… or they lose interest and start to daydream. Like leading sheep to the slaughter, the idea is the same with agenda-less meetings. Inviting people to meetings that do not tell the WHOs and WHATs is a waste of everyone’s time – leaving attendees wishing they had never bothered to turn up.
At least when you know the WHOs and WHATs, everyone can psyche themselves up for the questions and answers that are likely to be productive.
The least favourite participants
There are those who, if given the choice, everyone would prefer it if they didn’t attend the meeting at all. Like the four apocalyptic horsemen, these people will only bring doom to your meetings.
• The ‘better-late-than-never’ person who expects you (if he or she sits beside you) to summarise what has already transpired in the meeting, while the presenter is still speaking. Talk about rude!
• The person who cannot put their phone down due to incessant texting – generally not paying attention.
• The person who becomes the champion of the timid attendees, asking a hundred questions before, during and after the discussions.
• The speaker who just reads what is written in the PowerPoint presentation. Surely, everyone can read what’s written in the presentation and there’s no need to read it out loud?
A plausible solution, though a hard one, is to approach every one of these archetypes and kindly tell them their wrong doings – and suggest ways to correct them.
Technical problems
To save everyone’s time and productivity, make sure the necessary equipment functions properly! Faulty and ‘uncooperative’ equipment just ticks everyone off and delays valuable progress.
Have backup resources at the ready should unexpected technical problems arise.
Keep your business meetings free of distractions and annoyances and everyone will remain focused and locked in on the topic in hand!
For professional and perfectly presented meeting rooms in London just give us call on 0800 073 0499. We’re always totally prepared for you!
