Meeting Chameleon

The Meeting Chameleon is an interesting meeting animal.  Sometimes this elusive creature will blend in to the seats, keep a low profile and seek to fill their calendars with back-to-back meeting to justify their existence.  In a far more sinister incarnation the chameleon will change its opinion and personality to seamlessly blend with group think consensus or the perspective of the most influential or powerful person in the room.

With the Chameleon we see that this meeting animal will attempt to get into whatever meeting they can. Who you have attend your meetings plays a big role in the efficiency of the meeting itself. We need to be sure that we are always optimizing attendance for our meetings. This will ensure our meetings are fewer, faster, and more focused.

Who Should Be At This Meeting?

Optimizing attendance means inviting the people to the meeting required to contribute to the achievement of your meeting objectives. Other stakeholders should be kept informed about the output of the meeting. This approach is an essential component of the PSM value proposition designed to save meeting hours.

Meeting Attendee or Meeting Subscriber?

Optimizing attendance requires a meeting leader to distinguish between those who “contribute” and those who “consume.” Contributors are individuals who are required to provide input that is essential to achieving the objective(s) of the meeting. They could be a decision maker, a subject matter expert or a member of the team who is directly involved with the subject of the meeting. The bottom line is that they have input that is required. Consumers are individuals who might have a need to know the outcome of the meeting, but they aren’t needed to contribute to the stated objective(s) of the meeting. At MeetingResult we refer to those who contribute as “Attendees”. For those who need to consume the meeting content, but aren’t contributing to the meeting, we refer to them as “Subscribers”.

Faster Isn’t Always Effective

In the event that the Chameleon tends to be agreeable with the most popular personality or idea in the room, it could be beneficial to have the Chameleon speak first on topics. When you have the Chameleon share their ideas first, they will not have an opinion to agree with in the first place. Attendees that tend to be over agreeable may indeed lead to a faster meeting, but progress isn’t made without debating options, so working to get your team to respectfully disagree could be critical for your business or team.

 

Have you ever had a Meeting Chameleon attend your meetings? What was the experience? Maybe you’re a Meeting Animal yourself! Feedback on our Meeting Animals series is encouraged and always welcome.