Meetings Archives - Page 10 of 11

The Vocabulary of Disagreement

Can I push back on that? This is a polite request to disagree. It is often heard in meetings.

Let me play devil’s advocate. The speaker argues the other side on purpose to test an idea.

I respectfully disagree. The disagreement is open, and the tone stays polite.

Let’s agree to disagree. Both sides end the argument, and neither side gives in.

Challenge the assumptions. This is a common instruction in planning and strategy sessions.

Don’t be a yes-man. This is a warning against agreeing with the boss by reflex.

From the Commander to the Newest Private

The rules for after-action reviews at the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center say the review is “not a critique.” It is “a professional discussion that requires the active participation of all attendees.” Army guidance asks leaders to “encourage people to give honest opinions.” A key rule is that “everyone gets a chance to enrich the discussion, from the company commander to the newest private.”

A 2007 report by the Army Research Institute found a limit. When senior leaders spoke first, it was “very difficult for junior personnel to think of anything new.” Starting with the lowest-ranking soldier “appears to elicit more responses.”

Go or No Go

Before major events such as a launch, the flight director in Mission Control goes “around the room.” Each flight controller is polled in turn and calls out an answer. If everything is good, the call is “go.” If there is a problem that requires a hold or an abort, the call is “no go.”

The procedure is called a launch status check, or a go/no go poll. In the Apollo program, the flight director started it.

Whose Is It?

Who owns this? This is the first question about any task. The answer is a name.

Point person. This is the one named person who handles an issue.

Go-to person. This is the person everyone turns to for a certain kind of problem.

On the hook. A person on the hook is personally responsible for a result. If it fails, the blame is theirs.

The ball is in your court. The next move is yours, and nobody else can make it.

That’s on me. The speaker takes personal responsibility for a mistake.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Work with too many people in charge goes badly.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody

“You may have heard the story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.” An important job had to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry, because it was Everybody’s job. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. The story is passed around in offices, schools and churches. Its author is unknown.

Closing the Loop

Let’s close the loop on this. — Let us finish it and confirm that it is finished.

Check the box. Cross it off the list. — The task is done, and the list shows it.

What are the next steps? Who owns this? — The questions at the end of a meeting.

Let’s wrap up. Tie up loose ends. — Finish what is still open.

Get it over the finish line. — Complete it, even if the last part is hard.

One more thing off my plate. — One less open task.

Late to the Meeting

In 2013 a team led by Steven Rogelberg of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte published a study of lateness to meetings. They surveyed 195 employees in the southeastern United States about more than 300 meetings. Latecomers left others “feeling disrespected, upset, frustrated, and disappointed.” They also saw the late person as rude.

The participants said they themselves were late to meetings 5 percent of the time. The same study found that 37 percent of meetings started late.

This Meeting Could Have Been an Email

This meeting could have been an email. Americans say it after a meeting that wasted their time.

In 2019 the scheduling company Doodle estimated that pointless meetings would cost organizations in the United States about $400 billion that year. The figure is the company’s own estimate, based on more than 19 million meetings in four countries.

The Vocabulary of Spending Time

Spend time. Save time. Waste time. Buy time. — Time is counted like money.

Time well spent. — The time produced something worth its cost.

On the clock. Off the clock. On company time. — Paid time and unpaid time.

I won’t take up much of your time. — A promise made before asking for something.

I’ll give you ten minutes back. — We will end the meeting early.

Thanks for your time. — A standard thank-you at the end of a call or a meeting.

Hard Stop

I have a hard stop at three. — I must leave at three, and I will.

Got a sec? Do you have a minute? — May I interrupt you? The question comes before the interruption.

Let me find time. Grab 15 minutes on my calendar. — Let us book a slot. Or: book the slot yourself.

Send me an invite. — Make it a calendar entry, so that it exists.

I’m back-to-back all day. — My day has no open slot.

I blocked off the afternoon. — I reserved the time in my calendar, so that no one else can book it.

I’ll let you go. — I know your time is limited, so I am ending the conversation.