Part 5. Using a Mullet Meetings approach to improve meetings.
In true Mullet Meeting style – work upfront, party at the back – you’ve produced an agenda that others have contributed to, the meeting needs to happen and they’re engaged. But what if things start to get out of control?
Issue 5: Messy meetings
The meeting turns into a mess with people talking over each other, having side conversations or quieter people never getting a word in. Why?
The chairperson has lost control
It’s your role to steer the meeting in a way to achieve the agreed objective. That means hearing from all who have something to contribute, not just the loudest people.
If someone's dominating, use their name to redirect: "Thanks [name], I want to bring in a couple of other views before we move on."
If someone hasn't spoken, ask them directly: "[Name], what's your take on this?"
Don't wait for a gap in the conversation because there may not be one.
You have too much to say
You’re grandstanding. You’re telling, not listening. It’s difficult to be both the subject matter expert and facilitate a meeting, so ask someone else to chair the meeting if you need to contribute to it.
As a leader, it can also be helpful to place your agenda items later in the session so others have the chance (and obligation) to contribute.
Too many open channels
In a virtual or hybrid meeting, a side conversation is playing out in the chat window while someone's talking. Half the room's reading it, half isn't, and you're left choosing between missing good input or losing your own train of thought reading it mid-sentence.
Set expectations at the start: you'll check chat before moving to the next agenda item, not while someone's mid-flow.
If someone wants to jump in and speak, require a virtual hand up or a signal on screen rather than a comment lost that will get buried in the scroll.
You can talk or you can read chat. Not both.
There’s one other mess that we need to talk about. Running over time. That’s next.
P.S. Introverts can get easily overwhelmed in a chaotic meeting. They thrive on calm, not chaos.
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