NFIB

Don't Interrupt
02/ 17/ 2004

by Vicki Gerson

Nobody wants to be interrupted in a meeting. Whether it's a company-wide meeting or a conversation with an individual client, interruptions hinder productivity and can cause one to lose his or her concentration. Follow these techniques to help keep you focused and help stop interruptions from happening again:

Don't present important information in a hallway conversation. When you want to talk to an employee about something important, do it in a location where your chances of being interrupted are lessened. In a hallway, people will naturally stop and chat. They don't realize you may be trying to convey important information to someone.

Hold all calls. Do not answer your phone during a meeting. Being interrupted will not keep the conversation centered around the significant issues.

Ask that cell phones or beepers be turned off at meetings. If you ask, participants won't make or take a call during the meeting.

Ask meeting participants to stay for the whole meeting. Too many times, when you are trying to present information someone gets up and talks outside the meeting room on his or her phone. Not only is it disruptive to get up and leave the room, but it becomes a parade as employees go in and out. When employees leave the room, they surely don't get the entire message you are presenting. All they have is disjointed information. However, if the meeting is going to last more than an hour, conduct the meeting for 50 minutes and allow a ten-minute break.

Make meetings engaging. Now that you can get everyone's attention, the success of the conversation or meeting rests upon your ability to present your points clearly and concisely. Either specify what it is you want, generate ideas to solve a problem or set deadlines and allocate responsibilities. Stay positive and whenever possible use a timely joke or an anecdote.

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