Steering From the Back Seat

Even if you aren’t the person calling the meeting, you can control the experience for yourself and others. In their recently published book, How to Fix Meetings, authors Graham Alcott and Hayley Watts use the term “steering from the back seat” to describe ways in which you can influence the outcome as a participant.

When the meeting conflicts with other priorities

Express to the organizer that it would be helpful to know more about what they need from you, so you can re-schedule commitments or find a way to get the information ahead of the meeting. 

Getting clarity on the agenda

Ask the organizer if they could give you more clarity about what they need on points X, Y and Z so you can best prepare (or find out if you are the right person to attend)

Zeroing in on Purpose

Point out that you know everyone is busy, so you would like to be well-prepared and not waste peoples’ time. Asking ahead of time about the purpose of the meeting helps you get clarity, but also makes the meeting organizer more accountable to you as a participant to not waste your time.

When you really want to be there

Even if you aren’t in control of the meeting’s direction, but you have points you want to be certain to get across, you can remind yourself of these with Post-it Notes on the wall behind your monitor or on the edge of the screen itself. You can maintain eye-contact in the Zoom call while making these points and appear more confident. As the authors emphasize, make the circumstance work for you.

When you aren’t in charge of the driving, you can still get a great deal more out of the journey by being as prepared as possible.