By Mobola Lawal
Meetings are a regular part of corporate life. Some of us have sat through more than our fair share of meetings. The counter productivity of numerous long meetings is a topic for another day. This post is about the different meeting personas I have come across over the years. Whether it is a meeting with clients, an internal team meeting, an organisation-wide meeting, an executive team meeting, a project meeting, a negotiation or what have you, chances are that every meeting has at least one of these personas. You may identify your meeting persona as well. I will not pass judgments on any of the personas. Or at least, I will try not to. I will try, guys. No promises though.
A quick confession: I have been more than one of these personas so don’t feel too bad when you identify yourself. You are not alone.
Loquacious Lucy
As the name implies, Loquacious Lucy talks excessively at meetings. Whether she is the one moderating the meeting, or just one of the regular attendees, Lucy ensures that everyone hears her voice every couple of minutes. From sharing her perspective on areas she knows nothing about, to jumping to the defence of someone else at the meeting, to making numerous feeble attempts at humour, Lucy is the one person that every one cannot but remember or even talk about after the meeting. She regularly interrupts people when they are speaking and insists on being heard whether you like it or not. Oh, Lucy.
Repeating Ronald
Ronald, the “Repeater” is the one person who gets on my nerves sometimes. (Judgment, right? I told you, no promises!). Anyway, as you have probably guessed, Ronald usually repeats what someone else just said and says it like he just had an epiphany. So, he goes “I was just thinking, why don’t we….” Then proceeds to repeat the exact thing someone else just said. To be honest, Ronalds are sometimes needed at meetings to shed light on what has just been said. Some people have a nice way of speaking that makes everyone agree with or understand what they say. But this Ronald basically wants to steal the day, steal the spotlight, without giving any credit to the original speaker. There is also another angle about how Ronalds are usually people of a certain gender, echoing what someone of the opposite gender said whilst getting all the credit. Well, go figure.
Agreeable Abby
Abby is a close family of Ronald, to the extent that she feeds off whatever someone else says. No original ideas or thoughts. Unlike Ronald, however, she gives credit to the original speaker and goes ahead to say why she agrees. Abby believes she must speak at every meeting. So even if it is to echo what a thousand people have spoken to death, Abby does not mind. As long as she gets her two minutes of fame!
Mutinous Martin
Hmm, how do I explain Martin? He is the ringleader of the “meeting within a meeting”. Martin vehemently disagrees with what is being said but for some reason will never speak up at the actual meeting for everyone to hear. He will rather whisper to those around him and gesticulate loud enough for people to understand where he stands. He does this by vigorously shaking his head and all that, as he tries desperately to get people in his corner. He usually does not quite succeed as his whispers and loud gesticulations disturb the peace of the meeting and he is called to order. “One meeting, please!”
Martin usually then convenes a “meeting after the meeting”, either in the meeting room or some where close by (say in the hallway) where he tries to get converts by driving home his point. At least, this time, he does not have to whisper.
The Ghost
The Ghost does not get a name because quite frankly, this persona is just a ghost. The Ghost does not speak. The Ghost is not spoken to. The Ghost is not spoken about. The Ghost is not assigned any responsibilities, nothing. Nada. Just ghost. In extreme cases, the Ghost is also not even seen! Nobody knows they are there. So, when they are talking about the meeting later, people are like “Oh, you were at the meeting?” Ouch.
Clueless Carrie
Carrie is similar to the ghost but still fundamentally different. Like the Ghost, Carrie does not speak, at least deliberately. But unlike the Ghost, Carrie is spoken about and asked to speak from time to time. But, in regular Carrie fashion, she is not following the conversation. Not because she does not have the range, but because she lets her mind wander. As she is in deep thoughts trying to remember if she locked her front door before rushing off to work this morning, someone asks her a question. “Carrie, can you give us an update on Project Ivy, you are the team lead on that project, yeah? Carrie, Carrie?” The person sitting next to her finally taps her. And she blurts out “I’m sorry, you said what?” Oops!
Other interesting personas include Dozing Daniel who sleeps from the beginning to the end of the meeting, almost as if the meeting is some kind of sleeping pill. Once the meeting ends, the sleep clears from his face, like magic. There is also Refreshment Raffy who is there for all the nice treats. Raffy does not really care if the meeting lasts a thousand hours or if people are raising their voices at each other and all what not, as long as there is sufficient food to eat, Raffy is good. A bonus persona is Looking Larry who stares endlessly at all the people in the meeting (whether they are speaking or not). I’m not sure how common Larry is but I have noticed a few of them, a bit unsettling. Stop staring endlessly at me, Larry! Just stop it. Or could it be that..? ohhh, ohhh Larry!!
LOL!!!!!