Most teams have someone who constantly disrupts the meetings and takes proceedings off track. In some teams, this will result in the project manager reminding the person that that subject wasn’t what was being discussed. Or it might involve asking them to get the conversation back on track – and this will usually work. Of course, there are some team members who simply don’t respond as you would want to these gentler prompts. This can result in the rest of the team getting frustrated by a meeting that isn’t on schedule and is therefore wasting their time. It can also sometimes result in the person simply withdrawing their opinions and not actively taking part in the meeting as well. This can be another problem.
Whilst it is easy to assume that one person sending you a meeting off track is simply a result of the behavior of that one person, it may well be a symptom of an issue that is more widely spread in your team. You need to make sure your meeting has a clear agenda with well-defined goals because when you don’t have this in place it is very easy for a team member to disrupt proceedings.
Agree on an agenda
If you have agreed a path, you want your meeting to take then your team members may be confused about what track you want the meeting to take. This could result in a misunderstanding of the purpose of the meeting. This could result in them leading it off track unintentionally. People interpret things differently, so this is a relatively easy mistake to make.
Start your meeting by setting out exactly what is on the agenda and what you want to cover during the meeting. You could ask if anyone has anything to add and jot it down on your agenda if it is pertinent to the task at hand.
If there is no agenda, then begin by simply stating the purpose of the meeting so everyone is clear about what you want to discuss and that you mean business.
Check everyone is ready to move down the agenda
When you have finished discussing one item on the agenda, make sure everyone is ready to move on. Give them a chance to have their say on the topic before closing it off and moving to the next important thing you need to discuss. This will indicate that that topic is finished with, and if people don’t speak up there will not be time for that later. This will make moving on to the next item on the agenda seem like a joint decision. When you use project management skills in this way everyone gets their chance to have their say. But, your agenda remains on target.
When you think your meeting is being disrupted; call it out
If you think that one of your team has taken the discussion off track then challenge that assumption. Ask the person involved how what they are saying relates to the topic. In their mind, it might have a connection you haven’t thought of, and it could be that that is just not as clear to everyone else as it could be.
If you really feel that you struggle to keep your project meetings on track, then you may benefit from finding an appropriate project manager course that will help you to sharpen your skills as a project manager.
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