Destination Success: Technological advances carry unseen pitfalls

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Sinara Stull O'Donnell is a professional speaker and writer through Springfield-based SinaraSpeaks. She is the author of "Be The Star Of Your Life: Are You Ready For Your Close-Up?"|ret||ret||tab|

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I recently had three out-of-body experiences. One was caused by sleet and the other two by mismanagement.|ret||ret||tab|

In the first, I was on my way to Joplin for a very important meeting. Near Mt. Vernon, I began to get sleet on my windows. I played around with the windshield wipers, the defroster and even stopped the car and scraped. Nothing helped. My five years in Missouri quickly gave way to California panic. I turned tail and ran for home. Arriving, I immediately called the people in Joplin and was told that I could, through the magic of technology, "participate" in the meeting from my "remote" location. |ret||ret||tab|

It was an hour-long fiasco, at least for me. The attendees quickly forgot that I was on the speakerphone and began the usual talking over each other. I couldn't hear people at the end of the table. The final insult was when the meeting ended; they forgot to hang up the phone! I was treated to chairs scraping, muffled good-byes and a personal conversation I wish I hadn't heard.|ret||ret||tab|

In the second instance, I was in the same situation, but as part of a reunion committee for my college. (No need to mention what year.) This time, the experience was more amusing. Everything started well, and I felt like a valuable member of the committee. I was thrilled to hear my classmates' voices and they seemed glad to have me as a participant.|ret||ret||tab|

Unfortunately, a lot had not changed over the years. The same people took over and drowned out others. The same peacemakers tried to calm everyone down, but to no avail. The alumni representative kept trying to get in a word edgewise.|ret||ret||tab|

Periodically, someone would remember me. (They probably heard my squeaking from the speaker!) There would be a perfunctory, "What do you think, Sinara?" and then we would go back to college days. I finally got sick of it and hung up. |ret||ret||tab|

We decided that the next meeting would be better served by a telephone conference call. Overall, it went better, but not much. There was still the rambling, the side stories, arguing and personal issues. If I didn't love these people so much |ret||ret||tab|

After being dissed on the phone three times in a row, I came up with five rules for remote communication.|ret||ret||tab|

Set a beginning and ending time for the call. Participants need to know there is a deadline' to the call. In this way, all will be more time conscious.|ret||ret||tab|

Make out an agenda ahead of time with specific times for the items. It might read, for example, "9-9:15, introductions. 9:15-9:45, discuss budget constraints," etc. Realistically, some issues might take longer, but a target time will aid.|ret||ret||tab|

Remind the group of the rules before the meeting starts.|ret||ret||tab|

Nominate a timekeeper who will help keep the meeting within time constraints. This person has a simple job. Periodically, they should give a time bulletin, e.g. "We were going to take until 9:45 on the budget. We have about 10 minutes more on this issue." The timekeeper will also announce when the times are reached.|ret||ret||tab|

Encourage participants to use the "parking lot" method and designate a time at the end to implement. If other important issues come up, the chair of the meeting (there always needs to be a leader as well as a timer) puts the issue in the "parking lot" for later. At the end of the call, these issues are covered.|ret||ret||tab|

Squash personal cross-talk. It is so easy to get into reminisence, personal issues and simply go off track. Again, these issues can be put into the "parking lot" to be covered later. The chair of the meeting should politely ask the rambler to save the story for later if it does not apply to the whole group.|ret||ret||tab|

Include all participants, whether they are on the phone or on a speakerphone. If one member is on the speaker, you may want to consider the simple addition of a tent card with the person's name in front of the speaker, just to remind members of the remote participant.|ret||ret||tab|

Send out a brief summary of the meeting afterwards.|ret||ret||tab|

Hopefully, these tips will provide a few guidelines. The most important factor to consider is that all participants are key to a productive meeting. As a participant, it is your job to speak up. |ret||ret||tab|

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