18. To play or not to play in meetings
Translated from the French original.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels
I was recently running a training session at a company.
As usual, I start with a round-robin so that everyone can say a few words and hear their own voice in the room.
Paul was busy on his laptop.
His turn comes.
He takes his time, checks that everyone is listening, shares a few words, then dives back into his laptop.
Consciously or unconsciously, he had just told the rest of the group.
“Listen to me carefully, because this is important. I, however, am not going to waste time listening to you, because frankly I don’t think you deserve it.”
I should have been on my guard.
I should have reacted.
I should have shared the disgust that had just run through me.
I didn’t …
I implicitly accepted the idea that the group would be able to function even though one of its members had made it clear he would not be making the journey with the others.
I spent the rest of the day burning my energy trying to get him interested in what was happening in the room and to limit the harm he was doing.
And I spoiled the experience for the rest of the group.
What if the round-robin were simply another way of asking each person
“Are you with us?”
Next time, I will dare … I promise, and I will say.
“Paul, when I watch you I get the feeling that you don’t want to join the rest of the group today. Should I do something?”
Ecole Internationale de Réuniologie
#reuniologie #meeting #louisvareille #ecoleinternationaledereuniologie #reunionite #reuniologue #reunion
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