Top Ten Meeting Personalities

Further to yesterday’s post on twenty ways to beet “meeting-phobia” read Jackie Yeaney’s entertaining Top Ten Meeting Personalities:

Others that I’ve come across are:

• Dominators: Cannot let any item pass without commenting (at length). Credit their knowledge, stress the benefit of other opinions, ask for others’ reactions, do not let them speak every time they want to speak
• Ramblers: Summarize what they said, regularly stress time, refocus if meeting is diverted
• Arguers: Favorite word is “No.” Ask them to make a positive proposal rather than just argue against the existing one
• Volcanoes: Some people just seethe silently, then explode a few days later. Try to take some of the steam out of them by asking them to speak at the meeting.
• Chatterers:  If participants are speaking in the background when someone else is speaking, ask for order, look at the person, ask them to share, stress benefits of hearing all views.
• Politicians: Nothing is ever black or white, right or wrong. Debates are simply platforms to display his “balance” and “wisdom” compared to the “extreme views on either side.”
• Proceduralists: Experts at using “procedure” and “order” to obstruct and block proposals they are not willing to argue against on merit.
• Age-ists: When losing a debate they usually resort to insulting the “youthful inexperience” or “zeal without knowledge” of their “younger colleagues.”

Any others you’d like to add?