Part 4. Using a Mullet Meetings approach to improve meetings.
Thanks to the Mullet Meeting approach, you’ve got an agenda, people have contributed to it and the meeting has a reason for existing. People have turned up. But they’ve tuned out.
Issue 4: Lack of engagement and focus
You're staring at a grid of faces in your online meeting, and half of them have checked out. Their cameras are off, they’re muted and there’s a good chance they are taking this precious time to do something else. They might think they’re listening, but they are distracted. Why?
You don’t want to be rude
No one wants to ask someone to turn their camera on. It feels intrusive. But without faces, you lose the accountability that comes from being seen. It's easier to disappear when no one can see you've done so.
Set the expectation upfront: cameras on unless there's a real reason (bandwidth, back-to-back calls) and model it yourself. If someone is off camera, be sure to call on them to contribute.
There's a recording, so why pay attention now
People check out live because they can "catch up later" with a recording. Truth is, they never do. You lose their input in the moment and they lose the content altogether.
Say plainly at the start: this isn't a broadcast, it's a working session. If you need their input, tell them what you need it on before the meeting, not during.
Multitasking feels efficient
It feels like we can multitask, but we can’t. It’s task switching. If people are multitasking – either with their camera off or fiddling with their phone in front of you – they don't think the meeting is worth their full attention.
Ask yourself honestly whether this section of the meeting needs them at all. If it doesn't, say so: "The next 10 minutes are for finance only, everyone else can drop off."
If it does need them, that's your cue this is an agenda problem, not an attention problem.
A meeting in which people are engaged is great. But what happens when they become too engaged and the meeting turns to chaos? That’s next.
P.S. Introverts can seem that they've tuned out, when they're actually listening intently.
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