I was typing this during my break from a system walkthrough meeting and as I pondered on the tough day I had, I realized that there is no easy way for handling tough audience (in my case, end users).
1. The “last minute” one
This is classic one and there is bound to be one or two in every meeting. These are the ones who are “were called in the last minute” and yet will be asking the most rudimentary questions. Of course, to be polite, they will add “sorry, I was not in the last time but please bear with me” sentences occasionally when the discussions sway away from the original objective of the meeting
These are also the ones is who had no idea what is the topic and objective of meeting but someone up in the department decided that these are the right person to go.
2. The bossy one
These are the ones who pass by the meeting room but they are just curious on what is happening in the room that they have to pop in their head and sit in for the discussion. I call them the “boss” because it always seem that they will have plenty of time to sit for the almost meeting, arguing and coming with a totally new method and yet, when it comes to take responsibility or assignment of work, they will be just too busy to continue to sit in the meeting
3. The grumpy one
These are the ones who are directly affected by the outcome of the meeting. Most of the time, they are end users and most of the time they always look grumpy. It is because they think they are wasting their time for the meeting when they can actually finish some quality work or because someone else (please refer to “the boss” above) will be doing all the talking but the end users end up doing all the work.
4. The pretty one
These are the ones who…make my day. In a stressed out situation such as tense meetings, you need some pretty faces to take your mind out for a moment. Basically I have at least one, normally the secretary, jotting down the minutes of the meeting. They will look interested or engaged mentally in the tense discussion but I bet that if you ask them for opinion, they will give you the “who? me? I dunno lah dear” look.
5. The smart one
Truly the jewel in the crown (and a rare ones too). They will concentrate on the discussion and with a brilliant stroke of an idea will come with rather simple solutions. Unfortunately, they will not open their mouth at the right time but rather after everyone have argued (and re-argued) and is at the point of “free for all” brawl. Immediately everyone will look at each other and decide that this is a good idea and will move on the next issue.
Got to go now…we are continuing the meeting…Arggghh!
(Cartoon source: Ted Goff – www.3m.com)