by John J. Walters
I’ve been writing a lot of posts about how to make meetings the best they can be for meeting organizers. But what about those unfortunate souls who get dragged into boring meetings from which there is no escape? How do you keep yourself from screaming? Often, we zone out, but the problem with that is it runs the risk of us zoning out so completely that we fall asleep.
So I did a quick Google search for “staying awake during meetings†and found a few short articles full of hints and tips to keep your mind from snoozing away during your next boring business meeting. Most of them gave a bunch of simple tricks you can do to keep yourself awake that I’m sure we all figured out when we were in college. Several of them recommended pretending to have to go to the bathroom so you have an excuse to leave the room.
Two articles stood out from the rest. One because it was such a towering example of a bad idea that I feel like I just have to pass it along so that you too will be tempted the next time you get dragged into a corporate crap-fest. The other because it actually gave some very helpful hints on what you should do to not only get through the meeting but to stand out from the rest of the herd at work and get noticed by your boss.
I’ll start with the silly one. In a nutshell, it gives simple rules for how to play a game that basically amounts to “corporate-speak bingo.â€Â Not only would this be a terrible idea that might get you fired, it also requires a small amount of prep-work that workers would presumably do instead of actually preparing for the meeting. I do have to give it some credit, though: it’s clever, creative, and if you actually find yourself in a meeting where people are talking like this then I feel deeply sorry for you.
On to the good one. This one has a couple generic hints and tips but also advises workers to do such unconventional things as prepare in advance, take careful notes, and participate. It advises that the best way to get through a boring meeting is to do everything you can to make it meaningful, productive, and worthwhile. Imagine that!
Of course, these tips won’t always work. Sometimes you’re tired or you get dragged into a meeting at the last minute that has nothing to do with you. In that case, maybe trying out a few of those tips and tricks might be a good idea (because it’s never a good idea to sack out). But if you’re frustrated with the kind of meetings that your company keeps having, make every attempt to get involved to make them better. If your higher-ups don’t want to encourage that sort of thing, then maybe it’s time to start looking for a career elsewhere…