No One Was ListeningThursday, May 11, 2006Thursday, May 11th 2006 I was sitting in a meeting the other day and was becoming increasingly annoyed. At first I could not pinpoint the source of my growing angst. Then it hit me. Everyone was talking and no one was listening. I knew little was being accomplished and I caught myself watching the clock. I wanted to get out of that room. I had enough and I would be willing to bet that the other people in the room who were silent were right with me mentally. First of all, I have no idea why I was part of the meeting. The topic danced all around my area of expertise. The issues were presented by less than half of the participants. The leader of the meeting kept interrupting those who were actually doing the talking. I didn?t roll my eyes and I kept my professional fa�ade intact. No one even knew that I was ready to explode - or maybe implode? No one probably cared. I wondered at one point if anyone knew I was in the room. Those of us who had no contribution, just listened. Those who contributed never stopped talking. So the people who were talking were not listening to each other and those who were supposed to be listening were bored out of our minds. I tuned out early in the meeting. I surmised that the topic required no input from me. Get the picture? Have you been there? I am always estimating the cost of meetings. We do ROIs on everything in business. Rarely does someone think about the ROI of a meeting. There were high dollar people in that room, so the cost was substantial. I certainly contributed to the cost and the overall lost opportunity cost. So why do we attend such meetings? I have no good answer. I have no rational explanation. In fact as I write about this I feel incredibly stupid. I should have walked out once I realized that I was really not needed. I let a little of that disease called "self-importance" creep into my brain and it kept me there for 90 bloody long minutes. My lesson learned was simple and so now I must put it into practice. I need to be a revenue source, not cost. I challenge you to do the same thing. Next time you and I are stuck in a meeting where we are just cost, we need to leave. No dramatic exit - just simply slip out quietly like you are headed to the restroom. You know what? No one will even know you never came back. Think of what I could have accomplished in 90 minutes. I could have read 90 irrelevant emails! posted at 5/11/2006 08:00:00 PM |
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Copyright © 2006 Beat Your Own Drum
1 Comments:
This is why I always carry my vibrating pager. I can pull out, scrutinize it, make a scowly face, get up, walk out all with my pager in front of me, as if I had just gotten the most important message about the biggest disaster my group could possibly face. If I am feeling particulary generous, I might tap a shoulder or two and bring them out with me to "assist" with the problem.
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