As I drove around today doing my weekend chores I listened to Rod Stewart singing "Stay with me" on the radio. I must have heard this song a hundred times but this time I heard a line in the lyrics I had never hear before. I was perhaps concentrating properly.
This is not always what happens these days in business meetings. There has always been a good and a bad way to run meetings and indeed to behave in them. I remember being taught the basics of organising a meeting. Have a reason for the meeting in the first place, turn up on time, have an agenda and follow it, avoid distracting topics, finish on time and capture the agreed actions.
It is amazing how often these basic rules are not followed and meetings become a waste of time. But the point I want to make is that concentration at meetings has become much more difficult. Everybody at a meeting has a lap top and smart phone these days and whilst theoretically concentrating on the meeting can also be emailing, texting, instant messaging or simply Googling the latest stock market position.
Some of these activities can be very relevant to the meeting - like emailing an absent colleague for information or skyping a colleague in the meeting to give them some information helpful for the negotiation - but some are at best disruptive and at worst disrespectful and potentially damaging.
It seems to me that in addition to traditional good practice for meetings we now need to set some rules for how to behave and focus on the discussion. Sometimes laptops are helpful. At other times maybe they should be banned.
This is not always what happens these days in business meetings. There has always been a good and a bad way to run meetings and indeed to behave in them. I remember being taught the basics of organising a meeting. Have a reason for the meeting in the first place, turn up on time, have an agenda and follow it, avoid distracting topics, finish on time and capture the agreed actions.
It is amazing how often these basic rules are not followed and meetings become a waste of time. But the point I want to make is that concentration at meetings has become much more difficult. Everybody at a meeting has a lap top and smart phone these days and whilst theoretically concentrating on the meeting can also be emailing, texting, instant messaging or simply Googling the latest stock market position.
Some of these activities can be very relevant to the meeting - like emailing an absent colleague for information or skyping a colleague in the meeting to give them some information helpful for the negotiation - but some are at best disruptive and at worst disrespectful and potentially damaging.
It seems to me that in addition to traditional good practice for meetings we now need to set some rules for how to behave and focus on the discussion. Sometimes laptops are helpful. At other times maybe they should be banned.
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