Thanks for a great article that should be posted and required reading in corporations across the country. How many meetings have we all sat in where someone in the room spent their time texting on their cell phone, using their Blackberry, or working on their wireless laptop, ostensibly while actually paying attention to what’s going on in the room? Think what a boon to productivity and the quality of output could be realized if these practices were banned in companies; it boggles the mind!

Scott

Great point. One of my biggest pet peeves is meetings where lines of thought are not not allowed to be expressed because a speaker cannot even breath without it being interpreted as ‘time for someone else to speak.’ This is especially bad when on conference calls. Seems to me to be common courtesy that you allow a person to finish a line of thought prior to responding. Content gets missed when responses are being formulated while someone else is speaking. I have actually docked people on their performance appraisals due to this obnoxious habit. I find it quite frustrating to have to start every comment with, “as I was saying.” It has been my general experience that meetings allowed to progress with this bad habit are rarely productive and serve no unifying purpose.

-sean

I think your blog today is spot on. I have been in a networking group for the past 8 months. It is too big. People don’t get to know each other well enough to truly help. If you make the effort to look out for the other guy/gal, then it is likely that good things will happen for you as well.

regards,
jk