Some of the greatest challenges and benefits in any workplace are typically related to “the people”. We spend our greatest number of waking hours in our workplaces and our colleagues often become so close that they are trusted friends. The flip side of this is that negative working relationships have an even greater impact on our lives. Unpleasant relations with people at work can make our lives miserable and force us out of that organizaiton. The number one cited reason for employees choosing to leave a workplace is simply  “the manager”. Difficult behaviour in the workplace is certainly not limited to the meeting room, but it plays out much more obviously in the confined time and space of group meetings. As meeting participants we are more openly confronted with inter-personal issues and are forced to deal with differences in operating styles in order to express our opinions, share issues and concerns and arrive at collaborative decisions. All of this also has to take place while respecting the workplace hierarchy and the accompanying political constraints. If the behavior at issue happens to appear in our boss it’s even more challenging to deal with. I once had a boss, Bob (name has definitely been changed) whose ability to prolong any sort of conclusive decision was so well known throughout the organization that he earned himself the nickname “The Bobinator”. His tactics were legend and played out on whichever committee or team he was included. He’d faithfully record key points, look you straight in the eye and tell you he liked your idea, thought, or offer to immediately spring into action and then use a vague phrase such as “I’m going to look into this further” or “I will have to speak to Joan” (or any other long list of people not in attendance at the meeting) or  “I will remain seized on this issue” and then that was it!!!  Your concern, idea, thought, and offer were gone, never to be mentioned again in the light of day. He was also a really nice guy. His unwillingness to make any sort of decision and to stall any sort of forward movement was known outside of his sphere of influence and people would use the term “I think I’ve just been Bobinated” to refer to any occasion when anyone nicely, and kindly, sidelined the actions or initiatives of others.  It was so hard to confront Bob and move him to a place of decision that his employees would typically just give up in frustration and solve their own issues and collaborate with colleagues when he wasn’t around. In the Smarter Meetings language Bob would be a very Yellow analytical thinker. He needed lots and lots of information and analysis before feeling comfortable to act. He also understood people really well and got along easily with everyone. Unfortunately his total lack of Green creative thinking and Red decision-making meant he was not open to new and innovative ideas and his discomfort with making decisions meant he would only do so if absolutely forced under the pressure of a deadline. He also lacked any sort of personal awareness and was oblivious to the impact his actions had on his direct reports and peers. Had Bob worked to develop his Red decision-making and Green creativity skills in combination with his strong Yellow understanding skills he would have been far more successful in tapping into the intelligence of those around him.  Which operating styles do you find most challenging in meetings?

Some of the greatest challenges and benefits in any workplace are typically related to “the people”. We spend our greatest number of waking hours in our workplaces and our colleagues often become so close that they are trusted friends. The flip side of this is that negative working relationships have an even greater impact on our lives. Unpleasant relations with people at work can make our lives miserable and force us out of that organizaiton. The number one cited reason for employees choosing to leave a workplace is simply  “the manager”.

Difficult behaviour in the workplace is certainly not limited to the meeting room, but it plays out much more obviously in the confined time and space of group meetings. As meeting participants we are more openly confronted with inter-personal issues and are forced to deal with differences in operating styles in order to express our opinions, share issues and concerns and arrive at collaborative decisions. All of this also has to take place while respecting the workplace hierarchy and the accompanying political constraints. If the behavior at issue happens to appear in our boss it’s even more challenging to deal with. I once had a boss, Bob (name has definitely been changed) whose ability to prolong any sort of conclusive decision was so well known throughout the organization that he earned himself the nickname “The Bobinator”. His tactics were legend and played out on whichever committee or team he was included. He’d faithfully record key points, look you straight in the eye and tell you he liked your idea, thought, or offer to immediately spring into action and then use a vague phrase such as “I’m going to look into this further” or “I will have to speak to Joan” (or any other long list of people not in attendance at the meeting) or  “I will remain seized on this issue” and then that was it!!!  Your concern, idea, thought, and offer were gone, never to be mentioned again in the light of day.

He was also a really nice guy. His unwillingness to make any sort of decision and to stall any sort of forward movement was known outside of his sphere of influence and people would use the term “I think I’ve just been Bobinated” to refer to any occasion when anyone nicely, and kindly, sidelined the actions or initiatives of others.  It was so hard to confront Bob and move him to a place of decision that his employees would typically just give up in frustration and solve their own issues and collaborate with colleagues when he wasn’t around.

In the Smarter Meetings language Bob would be a very Yellow analytical thinker.

He needed lots and lots of information and analysis before feeling comfortable to act. He also understood people really well and got along easily with everyone. Unfortunately his total lack of Green creative thinking and Red decision-making meant he was not open to new and innovative ideas and his discomfort with making decisions meant he would only do so if absolutely forced under the pressure of a deadline. He also lacked any sort of personal awareness and was oblivious to the impact his actions had on his direct reports and peers.

Had Bob worked to develop his Red decision-making and Green creativity skills in combination with his strong Yellow understanding skills he would have been far more successful in tapping into the intelligence of those around him. 

Which operating styles do you find most challenging in meetings?