92: Managing Disruptive Behaviors in Meetings

You’ve planned a thoughtful agenda, sent materials as pre-work, and done everything in your power to set the meeting up for success. But then...someone takes the conversation off track. Or keeps bringing up old business and wants to rehash a decision. Or won’t stop talking. These disruptive meeting behaviors can make it hard to accomplish even the best planned meeting objectives. Effective meeting leaders are prepared to facilitate through these moments of tension to keep the meeting on track.  The full episode guide includes an overview of five common disruptive behaviors and how to facilitate through them. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community or purchase the full guide atwww.mamieks.com/store.     Get the free mini-guide at www.mamieks.com/miniguides.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Learn more about one-on-one coaching at www.mamieks.com/coaching. I’d love to help you implement the learnings and unleash your potential as a rockstar manager.   Read the related blog article: Put an End to These Disruptive Meeting Behaviors.    Key Takeaways: Most people aren’t intentionally being disruptive. They’re simply unaware of the impact of their behavior. By making people self-aware or clarifying expectations, many people will begin to self-regulate. Disruptive behavior 1: going off on tangents. This happens because the agenda isn’t clear, they’re particularly excited about a topic, or something is on their mind that is holding their attention.  When the conversation goes off track, acknowledge the new topic and suggest returning to the agenda at hand. Offer to schedule a follow up specifically on the open topic and use a backburner to document off-agenda topics for future discussion. Disruptive behavior 2: hogging the mic. This happens because extraverts talk to think, people struggle with being succinct, and/or time does not feel urgent. When someone is taking up all the air space, offer to speak with them another time in order to ensure you hear from everyone during this meeting. Disruptive behavior 3: naysaying or revisiting old content. This happens when something feels unsettled or the person is emotionally distracted.