Many of us struggle with how to deal with a slacker on the team.  When we get to the meeting and they haven’t completed their action item, what do we do???  If we’re too harsh, we’re concerned about backlash and conflict.  If we’re too lenient, we’re afraid the behavior will continue…YIKES!  

Here’s our recommendation….Instead of focusing on your individual interaction with any specific team member, focus on building a culture of accountability within your team and your team meetings!   So, the next time you’re starting a meeting and your slacker approaches you to let you know they didn’t get a chance to complete their action item as promised, consider this response!

We’ve all seen the slacker…..they accept a task or action item but always seem to come up with an excuse instead of results.  Or they may produce but they never seem to produce on time!  As the meeting leader, we often feel caught.  We want to address the slacker but we don’t want to start WWIII within the team either! 

Can you relate to this scenario?

Tune in next month for our suggested solution…

As Hurricane Earl approaches the east coast, I can’t help but think about the “hurricane” in some of our meetings.   Most meeting leaders have that one (or date we say two) person(s) in the room who have earned the title “dominator”.   You know what I’m talking about!  Most of the team members roll their eyes while the meeting leader often develops a pit in their stomach trying to figure out how to keep the dominator under control without causing a scene in the meeting.  One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is not recognizing the behavior and then failing to intervene quickly enough. 

If someone in the meeting is doing any or all of the following, intervention is likely required:

• Talking much more than others in the room
• Continuing to bring the discussion back to his/her preferred topic or point
• Discounting views of others
• Creating an environment that discourages input from others
• Talking over others

When you see this behavior, intervene sooner rather than later!

If you’re concerned about how to intervene, consider the following:

• Ask them to summarize their great points into one or two bullets so the scribe can be sure to capture them in the meeting notes
• Ask other (less talkative) team members for their thoughts on that person’s suggestions and ask that they also add their own
• Write their comments visibly on a flip chart or whiteboard and ask them to comfirm that they’ve been captured accurately
• Ask them to document their comments on the Parking Lot (to be reviewed at the end of the meeting) (used for any comments that are off topic)
• Ask the group to provide comments in round robin format with each person getting 30-60 seconds air time – start the round robin with the person furthest from the dominator

During your next meeting when you see that dominator gaining strength, don’t run for cover…take charge!

View the dominator video clip here.

Download our list of recommended techniques for managing a meeting dominator here.

Do you feel like you waste too much meeting time nagging team members about status on this task, that action item, this issue????  STOP IT!  Welcome to the era of “virtual nagging”! 

The truth is that as project managers and team leaders we often convene meetings to obtain status on various issues, and that’s fine.  BUT, the keen and astute meeting leaders shift the paradigm with their teams so that team members understand (and expect) from the inception of the team that anytime they accept a task or action item, the responsibility is THEIRS to continuously keep the team updated on that item.  One of the most efficient ways to do this is to use technology (e.g. collaborative workspaces) that maintain task/action items databases and automatically email team members reminders to update their status on their task/action item (think Evite reminders).  It’s then the team members’ responsibility to update their status so that everyone on the team can be kept in the loop.

View Dana’s suggestions here.

Many of us know that ground rules are a great tool for managing groups, but what do you do with the “ground rule violator”?  One of the worst is that pesky late attendee.  Some people seem to think the ground rules are an academic exercise and don’t really apply to them.  Watch this clip for tips to help you the next time you need to address the ground rule violator….

Managing the Ground Rule Violator Video Clip

I definitely think that one of the problems in organizations today is that we have too many “thin skinned” leaders.  You know what I mean - leaders who only want to be told that their every thought is a stroke of sheer genius.  The blunt reality is that for organizations to move forward, sometimes even Bob must be told that he has an “ugly baby”…but who has the nerve to do it?   Unless the organization is truly mature, very few people do (and for good reason – who wants to take the chance of that involuntary transfer to Uzbekistan???)

Very few leaders have the confidence, the nerve, the burning desire to truly move the organization forward that is necessary to ask the tough questions, really listen, and actually encourage their teams to speak freely.  In particular when organizations are going through change, everyone has an opinion but very few feel comfortable sharing it.  The best leaders encourage candor during times of change.  This clip provides tips for leaders managing organizational change…

Leading Change Video Clip 

The Problem:

Too many meeting leaders struggle with team members who don’t follow up on action items thereby slowing down the progress of the overall team.  Worse yet, this negative behavior can undermine the credibility of the meeting leader and spread throughout the rest of the team.  Before this happens to you, try a few of these techniques…

Try these techniques….

• Document all action items on a flip chart or whiteboard so that they are visible to everyone
• If you’re conducting a virtual meeting, you can use a virtual whiteboard to document actions (if not available, be sure to repeat them verbally for the scribe)
• For each action item include the owner, task, and due date
• Repeat the task wording to the owner and ask if he/she has questions or concerns
• If the action item owner has concerns, elicit a volunteer to help them with the task
• Ask the owner to suggest a due date (don’t just assign one)
• If concerned, follow up with the action item owner a few days prior to the due date to check on progress
• Suggest a ground rule that if an action item owner can’t complete an action item on time, he/she is expected to work with another team member to get it resolved by the due date
• Establish an efficient action item management database/system (e.g. Eroom, Sharepoint, Online group, etc.)
• If the action item owner arrives unprepared, ask them to still provide a read out to the team (don’t let them just privately provide you an excuse before the meeting)
• Verbally review all action items at the end of the meeting
• Include all action items in the meeting notes and ensure they are also pasted into the body of the meeting notes email

I spoke to a PMI audience on Monday - presentation entitled “5 Secrets to Virtually Cut Your Meeting Time in Half!”  As I proceeded to share a variety of different tips and techniques that the meeting leader or facilitator can use to reduce meeting time, I got the one question that I seem to be getting more and more at my presentations….What do you do if it’s the most senior level attendee who is causing the problems??? 

I guess I’m surprised (but not surprised) that I seem to continue to get some variation of this question during presentations (almost irrespective of the topic).  It is a quandry – how to deal with leadership when they are a major part of the problem.  I’ll be honest enough to admit that if I had a magic pill for that, I’d have patented and packaged that and retired to an island years ago.  What I can offer is a few tips and techniques that really can help when you’re kicking off that next project but get the feeling that your sponsor may not be the sponsor you’d hoped for.  Check out my article “The Project Manager’s Guide to Dealing with the Difficult Sponsor” to learn techniques for dealing with three specific types of difficult sponsor.  Although this article is written for project managers, the tips are just as effective for business analysts, team leaders, and others….Enjoy!

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