Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less

Author:McCormack, Joseph [McCormack, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2014-01-22T16:00:00+00:00

Meeting Villain #3: Tyrants

A widespread brevity killer in meetings is the tyrant—the dominant voice that stifles the chance for conversation. This Type A personality does most of the talking because of rank, personality, or position in the company.

Here are three polite ways to offset the overbearing voice:

Assign active listeners. Debunk tyrants by appointing someone we call an active listener to moderate a more balanced meeting.

This role is strict: The active listener doesn't speak right away but takes notes and listens for a common thread. His or her job is to keep the meeting short and succinct and to provide a final summary. When a dominant voice threatens to derail or distract the purpose of the meeting, the active listener is obligated to step in.

I've been in meetings in which the most senior leader took on this role; in others, it was democratically assigned to a different person every time. In each case, taking on that role sends the message that dominant voices aren't welcome.

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