Meetings are an effective way of communicating important information within the workplace, however if not handled well, agendas can become sidelined with petty office politics. Therefore, for those taking meetings within such workplaces key skills are essential such as good organisational and communication skills.
There are some simple, effective ways to handle meetings in environments where office politics are a big issue including the following: limiting attendees, setting the tone, scheduling at helpful times and being assertive with awkward colleagues.
Improve Work Meetings - Limit Attendees
One of the simplest way to keep office politics from taking over important meetings is to reduce the number of attendees. This may be achieved through working out which colleagues are likely to benefit most from what is being communicated and cause less interruptions and fraction within the meeting itself. In order to limit attendees one may have to be quite ruthless as the less people there are the quicker what is required to be communicated will be finished and the more focused any discussions are likely to become.
An effective way of ensuring meetings remain fairly small is to have specific times for key agendas with those directly associated with specific agendas only remaining in the meeting at these times.
Improve Work Meetings with Good Organisational Skills
In order for workplace meetings to be as effective as possible it is the responsibility of the individual leading the meeting to set the tone and pace well. This requires good organisational skills as if a meeting starts late then people will begin to get irritated and agitated which is not the best way to start any proceedings. Avoid annoying interruptions or distractions by first asking all attendees to ensure that any mobile phones or pagers are put on silent.
Next, it is a good idea to remind those attending exactly why the meeting is being held, specific agendas, goals or desired outcomes and expected duration. If attendees are aware right from the start of a rough idea as to how long it will take then this may make any discussions more focused.
Handling Awkward Meeting Delegates Requires Assertiveness
Regardless of how much a meeting is limited in terms of numbers there is a likelihood that one will have some awkward characters present who appear to enjoy provoking or causing an unhelpful atmosphere. In order to handle troublemakers and those who seem to wish to hijack the meeting, assertiveness skills are crucial to keep the meeting on track. Being assertive may include having the confidence to interject when necessary and use clear facts to dispel irritating throwaway comments.
As highlighted above, in office environments where politics are a big issue it is best to limit attendees and use organisational, time management and communication skills to reduce conflicts. In order to cope with difficult characters within meetings the ability to negotiate and exercise assertiveness is required.
Source:
Reardon, K. (2009) Survive Office Politics London: A & C Black Publishers
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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