Workplace: How To Deal With Conference Killer

Meetings have always been an important part of workplace life. At large and small meetings, there are always some "killer" lurking in their meetings. They interrupt the discussion topics with a stiff head, throw bad ideas one after another, and at the same time stifle the good ideas that may arise, which make people feel suffocated quickly.

These people used to walk away from meetings, send messages, send text messages, overturn decisions that have been made, or find trouble in other ways.

Even the wise managers have to take some extraordinary measures to ensure the normal progress of the meeting: for example, snacking on their mouths with small snacks such as chocolate, or being indifferent to them as ice.

It is normal to have "multipurpose" during meetings. Unless the boss orders, it is forbidden for employees to carry out electronic equipment meetings or to arrange a special "tea break" time to allow you to use them.

Products.

Otherwise, almost everyone will send text messages, collect mail or do something else at the conference.

However, it is nothing compared to the real conference killer.

One of the manifestations of "conference killer" is to sing a different tune.

Those who oppose the tune are - no matter what plan you put forward, they always think it will not work.

"Dana Brownlee said.

As a founder of Professionalism Matters training company in Atlanta, Brownlee said that one of her coping strategies was to take people who always liked to play the opposite role before lunch to let them vent at the table, and then reach agreement on the conference table as much as possible.

Once the meeting started, she set the rules: any dissenters were asked to put forward a solution at the same time of questioning.

Another type of "problem figure" at the conference is those who are silent, Ms. Brownlee said.

"They may be those quiet people sitting in the back of the conference room. Once the meeting is over, they will appear in the tea room and try to make you a mess.

"Ms. Brownlee's strategy is to let these people express their views during the meeting so as to get feedback from them.

For the most troublesome "conference killer" - like to ramble about.

Brownlee sometimes put a doll in the middle of the conference table. She told the attendees, "whenever anyone thinks the meeting is off the track, take the doll in hand.

"This allows participants to express their dissatisfaction without interrupting the progress of the conference.

And "conference killer"

Brenna Smith is delighted about the great victory he has made at the conference.

At a conference a few years ago, she was making a PPT presentation to her new boss and 10 colleagues. Half of the time, a colleague suddenly rose to the front of the conference room and questioned her idea that it was not feasible at all.

In order to show that she can stick to her own views, Ms. Smith replied, "I think you speak very well, but I want to finish with what I have to say so that we can discuss my plan, and we can discuss it later when there is time.

"After the meeting room was quiet, the colleague returned to his seat.

Until the end of the meeting, the participants did not have time to discuss this colleague's proposal, and MS. Smith's plan was successfully adopted.

Those who like to gossip and get off the track are quite destructive to meetings.

Samir Penkar, a project management consultant in Minneapolis, USA, hosted an annual meeting of 20 employees at an insurance company last year, and two of them always liked to run away from the topic.

So Penkar began to bring chocolates to the meeting. "During the meeting, if anyone started to gossip, I handed him a chocolate bar.

"He said.

In more than two weeks, Mr. Penkar repeated the strategy 6 times until the staff learned to strictly abide by the agenda.

As the chief executive officer of People Results, a career and career consulting firm in Dallas, Patti Johnson said that in order to ensure the smooth progress of the meeting, the moderators sometimes set aside a period of time before the discussion begins, so that the dissenters will raise objections and questions, and then lead the whole team to adjust the mode and concentrate on reaching a consensus.

In a conference attended by Ms. Johnson several years ago, participants almost agreed on a new project. However, a senior manager overthrew it all.

"She asked a question that could hardly be answered.

"Ms. Johnson said," that made the speakers begin to waver.

"The 15 colleagues of the manager were also frustrated. They asked the senior manager," why do you raise objections at this juncture? Can't you mention it earlier? "But the objections were enough to make the project run aground. That seems to be a satisfactory result for the opponents.