What do you do when someone dominates with an issue they are passionate about, to the detriment of the meeting?
I was chatting to a group recently who mentioned that their meetings often get derailed by topics and passionate people who highjack the agenda and insist on their issue being addressed. This can be really frustrating to the chair, not to mention the rest of the participants.
We talked about a few possible approaches and here are some of ideas. With a little preparation upfront you can minimise the effects of this common issue with meetings.
- Confirm expectations at the beginning of the meeting, including that the group will stick to the agenda and finish on time, to record all issues raised etc.
- Outline the scope and authority of the group, the meeting may be the forum for raising issues but may not have the authority to make decisions or implement initiatives.
- Using an idea parking lot, having a sheet or flipchart ready and when an issue is raised that is not on the agenda, to “park” the idea on the page. That way it is visible to everyone in the room that the idea has been heard and recorded.
- Should someone raise the issue again, you can, gently, point to the parking lot and note that the idea has been parked and will not be lost and is to be added to the agenda for a future meeting.
- If this is a regular meeting, you probably already have a clear process set up for managing agenda items, such as emailing all agenda items through a week before the meeting, suggest to the person they document the idea in detail and send it through to be added to the agenda at the next meeting.
- Take it off line, suggest a call or get together with a smaller group, at another time to discuss it offline and plan report back to the group at then next meeting.
- And my favourite, try to have someone in the group you know has your back and will support you through any tough calls you need to make!
Chat to us about your next workshop, maybe it would benefit from an external facilitator… see our blog post on our top 8 reasons to use an external facilitator.
What do you do with a dominant person in the group?