
What are your meeting pet peeves?
What are your meeting pet peeves? Have a read through this list and ask yourself which ones annoy you more than others.
Rambling opening comments and introductions
Too much chit-chat before business
No agenda
Too much listed on the agenda
The speaker reading their PowerPoint or handout out aloud – word for word
Lateness
Stalling to accommodate latecomers
Cringe-worthy icebreakers
Cross-conversations: people talking over each other
Getting off topic
Going too far down a rabbit hole and getting into too much detail too far ahead of the point
People confused by their own technology
The speaker not getting to the point
People who feel the need to comment on e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e thing
People who reiterate what someone else just said
Going over time
Scheduling (as a habit) one hour for a 30 minute meeting
Reviewing the last meeting for the people who weren’t there
What are your top three pet peeves? Are there any that aren’t on the list?
Now, venting can be cathartic but great leaders do something about this.
Here’s a challenge I dare you to take…
Share this list with your team, especially those who attend lots of meetings and ask them to point out what their top three pet peeves are and ask them how they would address each one to minimise or remove them or the negative affect of them.
Collect their feedback – you might be surprised with some of the ideas to move meetings from maddening to motivational.
You could do this via a survey or email rather than a meeting. Present the team with the information you gather and then ask them to vote on what one change they wish to make. As the change is implemented, be sure to agree on accountability and support as this may take a few meetings for habits to change.
Once this one change has been embedded, return to the list and vote on the next one change.
The team may want to implement more than one change at a once, if that’s what they want to do, be sure to help them make sure it’s do-able and sustainable.
Expect change to take time: there is some unsticking of habits, learning and applying new behaviours and approaches, then re-sticking the new way.
Meetings can be exceptional for innovation, creativity, team building, information sharing, problem solving … but they are often simply seen as a waste of time; as something that could have easily been an email.
Get clear on your specific meeting pet peeves so that you and your team can get specific and improving your meetings for greater productivity.