Summary
Everyone's been to meetings that don't work - ones that leave you frustrated or bored. But meetings can work positively - they can build teams and make an organization more effective. These positive meetings are not always the responsibility of the chairperson. Each and every attendee can also help to make the most of meetings. This two part series focuses on the attendee's role and how to make the most of meetings.
Part 1: "Messing up a meeting" focuses on Jeremy preparing to go to a regular meeting with his colleagues. Unfortunately "preparing" doesn't describe what we see him doing. "Grabbing a few papers and turning up late" would be more accurate. Jeremy's problems are not over though. First, he irritates the chair by talking when he has nothing to say and refusing to stick to the agenda. Then he gets into a blazing row with a colleague by disagreeing with him in entirely the wrong way. In both cases, Cleese shows him what he has done wrong and how to change his behavior for the better by keeping it simple, cool, and courteous. The key messages are: -- 1. Do your homework - research the facts, present your case professionally and prepare for objections. -- 2. Keep it short - stick to the point, stick to the agenda and if you've got nothing to say, keep quiet. -- 3. Keep it cool and courteous - use questions, not contradiction, show you've been listening, respect other's arguments, admit your weak points and others' strong ones.
Part 2: "Meeting menaces" contains five short sequences, introduced by John Cleese showing how to cope with colleagues whose behaviour stops meetings from getting results. The waffler is guilty of going on and on, wasting time and contributing nothing to the meeting. The turf warrior is only interested in defending the interests and reputation of her department. The assassin has no ideas of his own, so prefers to shoot down others, while the dominator would rather steamroller over other opinions. Finally, the interrupter jumps in when others are speaking just because he thinks what he has to say is more important than anyone else. However, following guidance from Cleese, Jeremy learns the techniques for handling each menace correctly and gets the meeting back on track.