Is it Okay to Say "Please Shut Up" in a Meeting?
The other day I was being interviewed by a young man who asked me to describe which communication skill is lacking most in business today. I knew immediately what I wanted to tell him: Succinctness.
Ironically, he asked me to expand upon that...
It occurred to me that one of the reasons I left my job at a very large firm was the constant series of endless, mind-melting meetings. They were meetings held for the main purpose of "collaboration" and "inclusion". Somewhere, long ago, a management guru told us that a decision made by a group of dummies is better than one made by just a single dummy.
While I agree with the general concept that "two heads are better than one", collaboration is paralyzing when meeting participants engage in personal filibuster verbosity to “add value” and appear knowledgeable.
In short, verbosity is the enemy of collaboration.
If you are a team leader, I recommend that you broach this subject openly at the initial meeting. Set a code of conduct that praises succinctness and condemns long poetic discourses.
As a team member, I recommend that you choose words wisely and keep comments short and impactful. Don't repeat what others say in your own words. Rather, ask brief questions, challenge ideas gracefully, and use plain language. Offer to discuss things offline with the key people required. Don't do your homework in the meeting itself.
Don’t get me wrong. Here at WOLF we believe in collaboration done correctly. It’s clear to us that collaboration is certainly useful for making sound decisions and gaining broad support. However, if not done well, it will add time, cost, and confusion to your most important projects.
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