These days, “meeting” is a dreaded word around the office. A recent study in The Salary Reporter found that 9 out of 10 workers prefer to interact in any other way than meetings, and 47% of employees say meetings are the #1 time-waster at the office. Meetings can be a great opportunity to share information with colleagues, build skills, motivate and give the team a chance to sound off. But even the most well-planned meetings can be a total loss if meeting personalities are not handled in an effective way. It’s common for meeting partners to assume certain roles in different meeting contexts, and unproductive meeting personalities are one of the main culprits for out-of-control meetings. Identifying and understanding meeting personality types can help you get workplace meetings back on track and improve overall productivity. It’s important to understand the motivation behind the various meeting roles to be able to handle them more effectively.

1. 7
Master Workplace Meetings
BY IDENTIFYING (AND DEALING WITH) THESE
CLASSIC MEETING PERSONAS

2. WASTING TIME
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These days,“meeting” is a dreaded
word around the office.
9 out of 10 workers prefer to interact in
any other way than meetings, and 47% of
employees say meetings are the
#1 time-waster at the office.
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3. YADD
Identifying and understanding meeting
personality types can help you get
workplace meetings back on track and
improve overall productivity.
It’s important to understand the motivation
behind the various meeting personas to be
able to deal with them more effectively.
YADDA
YADDA
YADDA
A
YADDA
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4. THE HIJACKER
BULLIES AND INTIMIDATES TO GET HIS WAY
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
As the “bully” of the meeting, the
hijacker always has be to right, and
can be hostile or intimidating to get
his way. He is out to further his own
personal agenda, regardless of the
consequences for the overall meeting.
STRATEGY:
Challenge a hijacker directly, and
don’t let him bully others in the
meeting. Ask what relevance a
remark or rant has in the context of
the formal agenda and address the
hijacker by name to maintain control.

5. WANTS TO APPEAR TO KNOW
EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING
THE PRINCESS
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
The Princess is the know-it-all of the
bunch; she appears to know more than
anyone else about any given subject. As an
instant expert, Princesses manipulate the
conversation to gain control of the meeting.
STRATEGY:
Don’t challenge what Princesses are saying
-- this can make it worse as they seek to
justify what they’ve already said. Encourage
her to come out of her tower by inviting her
to see alternative views, and nudge her to
listen to others’ perspectives too. A non-
threatening response can help tame her
“I’m smarter than you” attitude.

6. PERSONALITY TRAITS:
The “talker” uses meaningless
buzzwords and “business
speak” to talk incessantly,
whether or not she has the floor.
Jargonmeisters like to hear the
THE JARGONMEISTER
USES COLORFUL BUZZWORDS
TO TALK INCESSANTLY
At the end of the day, we
need to brainstorm some
best practices to optimize the
pipeline and establish thought
leadership at the bottom of the
funnel. Does that make sense?
sound of their own voice and will
use jargon to navigate questions
when they don’t know an answer.
STRATEGY:
Reminding a “talker” that everyone needs to stick to
the agenda can help the meeting get back on track.
Point out that others have ideas to contribute and
should have equal time to speak.

7. UNDERCUTS AND DISTRACTS OTHERS
WITH SARCASM AND JOKES
THE JOKER
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
While humor can keep meetings from
becoming stuffy, the joker constantly
distracts others by making jokes,
openly or under his breath. He uses
sarcasm to undercut the authority of
the presenter, and make meetings
unproductive.
STRATEGY:
Deal with a joker privately, as they
often use humor to try to gain favor
with peers. If a joker is chastised
openly in a meeting, this may cause
serious embarrassment and more
deeply-seated frustration.

8. THE DEFLECTOR
KEEPS OUT OF CONVERSATION BY
DEFLECTING QUESTIONS TO OTHERS
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
As the “avoider,” the deflector keeps
out of the conversation by deflecting
all questions to other workers. He
doesn’t contribute to the meeting and
sends conversation in circles.
STRATEGY:
Be direct. Ask the deflector the
question in a different way if he tries
to ask someone else to respond
instead. Encourage the avoider
so that he feels more comfortable
contributing to the conversation.
That’s a great question, but I
think Sally is more involved
in the project and could
provide a better answer.

9. THE MULTITASKER
FOCUSES ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN
WHAT IS BEING DISCUSSED IN THE MEETING
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
The multitasker is constantly texting,
typing and focused anything other
than what is being discussed in
the meeting. They divide attention
between the meeting and other
distractions, and frequently have to
ask others to repeat themselves when
asked a question directly.
STRATEGY:
It is important to keep the multitasker
engaged so she listens throughout the meeting and
contributes. Call on multitaskers often and keep them
on their toes to help decrease the amount of time they
spend focused on distractions.
Sorry I missed
that. Could you
repeat that?

10. PERSONALITY TRAITS:
The timekeeper sits through
the meeting without an audible
contribution, even though he
should have something to say.
The “non-player” is constantly
watching the clock and avoids
participating so he can get out of
the room as fast as possible.
STRATEGY:
Draw non-players out with direct,
open-ended questions that they
are required to answer without a
simple “yes” or “no.” Even if there
is silence, it is important to wait
it out and force the timekeeper to
contribute to the meeting.
I just want to get back
to my desk and look at
Facebook pictures of my
sister’s roommate’s fiancé’s
new cat. Can’t we just wrap
this up already?!
OUT OF THE ROOM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE
THE TIMEKEEPER
DOESN’T CONTRIBUTE SO HE CAN GET
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11. To Master Workplace Meetings

12. Have a
Clear
Agenda
List specific goals
for the meeting and
stick to the plan.
Guiding participants
back to the agenda
can help tame
out-of-control
personas when the
meeting becomes
unproductive.

13. Use a Web
Collaboration
Service
Web conferencing solutions like
MOMENTUM MEETING allow everyone
participating to see the same thing at the
same time. The meeting can be recorded,
so participants that miss can see the same
presentation as their teammates later.

14. Keep
it
Flexible
Meetings don’t have to take place in
the boardroom. Let participants engage
in a way that works for them -- from
smartphones to tablets and everything in
between. Remote access allows everyone
to join regardless of location.