Meeting Sea Gull

Bring your umbrella for the Meeting Sea Gull.  They will drop sh*t everywhere.  Everyone knows exactly the type of person we are talking about.  They swoop in, make unrealistic demands, and drop misleading and conflicting information that leaves everyone scratching their heads wondering what in the hell is this person smoking.

 

Ah yes, the Meeting Sea Gull. The wonderful creature that will sit and wait for the tourists to feed them their French fries and as a reward for everyone’s vehicle near the scene, a wonderful new paint job. DON’T FEED THE BIRDS!

Now that that’s out of the way, lets begin with this interesting Meeting Animal.

Tried And True, The Pre-Frame

With all disruptive animals it is a best practice to establish a pre-frame for the meeting. All meetings should have this so all attendees involved have an understanding of what is to be expected and this will give the meeting leader authority to redirect the meeting as needed. This is best performed during the initiation phase of the meeting or in advance of the meeting if you are managing a meeting that is at high risk of going off course. Here is an example of what a pre-frame might look like.

 

Example: Before reviewing our agenda I want to mention that we have an aggressive schedule and are very tight on time. So it’s important that we stay on topic. If it looks as if we’re heading off course from our objectives. I’m asking your permission to get us back on track. Does that work for everyone?

Paving The Road For Meeting Effectiveness

In this pre-frame example the meeting leader sets the expectation for staying on track and asks for permission to redirect the team as needed. What is the likelihood that attendees would object to someone keeping them on track? The important point here is to prepare attendees for the potential redirect in advance. While this tactic is not foolproof, it does increase the likelihood that attendees will stay on track and greases the skids for redirecting them when they don’t.

Be Respectful

When dealing with this Meeting Animal, it is important to stay calm and keep dialogue respectful. Never take what the Sea Gull is doing personally. More than likely the Sea Gull acts the same in all the meetings they attend. It is important to not point fingers, as this can create a wall causing them to shut down completely or worse, exacerbate their current behavior. Besides, the less tension the better and this situation can be taken care of through calm, collective, and respectful behavior.

Your Meeting Effectiveness Tool Kit

Whenever the discussion is going off course you always have the following tools in your kit to reign the discussion back on topic.

Soft-Redirect

The soft redirect follows a similar syntax to the hard redirect but is done in a more sensitive manner. The soft redirect is more appropriate for organization cultures and meeting environments where ruffling feathers is not welcomed.

 

Meeting Leader: OK I appreciate where you’re going with this discussion, and I also know that we’re getting away from the meeting objectives we established. So in respect of our time together I suggest we move forward.

 

The approach here is similar to the hard redirect but is done in a slightly more elegant way:

 

(a) Interrupt the wayward discussion by “appreciating” their thoughts “and” letting them know that “we’re” straying from the agenda.

(b) Explain why it’s important to get on track.

(c) “Suggest” then where to go next and move on.

The approach here is similar to the hard redirect with some noticeable differences in language choice. In particular please note the use of the words appreciate, and, and we’re in step (a) above. These words are used intentionally to get attendees back on track in a more collegial manner.

Hard-Redirect

A hard redirect is the most simple and efficient way to get your meeting attendees back on track. However, because it is so direct, it might not be appropriate in every organizational culture.

 

Meeting Leader: OK, we’re getting off course, as this discussion is not directly related to our meeting objectives. In the interest of everyone’s time, we need to move forward.

 

The approach here is simple and direct:

 

(a) Interrupt the wayward discussion.

(b) Explain why it’s important to get on track (that is, for the sake of time).

(c) Tell attendees where to go next.

The hard redirect is short but not so sweet, which is why sometimes a softer redirect is in order.

Segue

Occasionally meeting attendees will get entrenched in an area of dialogue that just isn’t going any further. Meeting attendees aren’t necessarily off track, but the discussion has clearly exhausted itself and there really isn’t any more ground to cover. This can happen in places of violent agreement where attendees continually reinforce each other, or instances where they just get lost reflecting on and rehashing the recent dialogue. In any case the path forward here is a simple tactic we refer to as the segue.

 

Meeting Leader: OK, well done, and that’s a great segue to our next agenda item.

 

The segue provides a clean (friendly) transition point for attendees while acknowledging the progress that’s been made.

 

(a) Interrupt the exhausted discussion.

(b) Acknowledge the progress made (for example, “well done”).

(c) Segue to the next agenda item.

The approach here is so simple and yet it’s a remarkably effective tool for moving meetings along in a very efficient manner.

Questions That Keep Your Meeting Sea Gull Grounded

Redirects are very useful for keeping the meeting on track. Sometimes our Sea Gull might go off on a tangent and have unrealistic demands or drop conflicting information that leaves other attendees confused.

 

This can be countered, let the Sea Gull say their piece and try asking some of the following questions:

 

“What’s your point?”

 

“What’s your question?”

 

“How does this relate to the subject?”

 

These are all clarifying questions and valid to ask. The Sea Gull might get the hint and realize for themselves that their ranting wasn’t adding any substance to the meeting. However, maybe the Sea Gull snacked on a few too many French fries from the tourist that morning and is determined, interrupting, and not giving other attendees a chance to contribute. To respectfully end the conversation simply say the following:

 

“Thank you for your comments, Sea Gull. Lets give Paul a chance to speak.”

After thanking the Sea Gull for their comments immediately call on another attendee to continue with the meeting. If the Sea Gull is persistent, interrupting other attendees, address them in the following manner:

 

“Hold that thought, Sea Gull. Let Paul finish his thought.”

Helpful Alternative

Alternatively, you may ask the Sea Gull to take notes during the meeting and share at the end. You could add this to your pre-frame for all attendees to help ensure faster, fewer, more focused meetings.

 

Have you ever had a Meeting Sea Gull 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.