Overcome Conference Room Aggression with These Useful Tips

1. Overcome Conference Room Aggression with Overcome Conference Room Aggression with These Useful Tips These Useful Tips Consider some useful tips to counter conference room aggression. You can have the meeting minutes transcribed by a general transcription service. MOS Legal Transcription Company 8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133 www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

2. Meetings have become a critical part in the current business scenario to meet, discuss and make decisions that are important for the growth of the company. Conferences and meetings are a strong way to establish communication among organizational employees and business leaders. Business organizations, law firms, schools, universities, and others conduct meetings or conferences for important decision making. Many important commitments, decisions and resolutions are taken during a conference and these important points can be transcribed with the help of general transcription services. Meetings can be productive only if all the participants are relaxed and unstressed. However, this is not often the case. Many employees tend to be tense and extremely sensitive due to various factors including stress related to work. Katie Heaney, in her article in thecut.com discusses what she terms as “conference room aggression,” a workplace concern that can be quite distressing. Typically, team meetings, department meetings etc are held in conference rooms. The number of conference rooms may be limited. In such conditions, there are high chances of conference room aggression where one or more employees of a company become unaccountably, excessively annoyed by another group’s delayed evacuation of a reserved room. It is not explicit anger against another employee or group but more of a kind of childish territorialism. The workers who are forced to wait outside develop antagonism against those inside the conference room who are overstaying. In the modern busy workplace, work-related tension is high and people hardly have time for others. Everything has become so mechanized that people think of themselves as workers rather than human beings. Conference room aggression may be a manifestation of one’s desire to be treated with respect. It may also stem from aspects such as stagnant wage growth, increasing economic insecurity, and rising gig economy. The general feeling may be that if you can’t count on getting to use the room you asked for at the time you had requested, what can you count on getting from work? The least one can expect is respect for each other’s time. Conference room aggression can be avoided if employees in an organization think of themselves as humans rather than mere workers. To avoid conference room aggression and to conduct your conference more effectively and quickly, consider the following tips. • Do not use the conference room: Although meetings require a closed place for privacy, there is no rule that they should be conducted only in conference rooms. It can be conducted anywhere -- cafes, parks or even in a car. • Stop calling it meetings: Meetings are gatherings of people where critical decisions are made for the growth of the company. However, meetings are often www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

3. considered boring. Do not conduct a meeting just for the sake of it. Conduct a meeting only if there is a need for it or you can conduct weekly or monthly meetings to review the performance of the company. • Keep the meetings short: As mentioned earlier, meetings can be boring, so make sure to keep them short and concise. This allows employees to focus on the meetings fully and not get distracted or feel bored. Meetings can be scheduled to be five or ten minutes before the hour or half-hour. You could install an iPad in the conference room and set it to display a flashing warning screen when only five minutes remain to conclude the meeting. • Prepare an agenda: Setting an agenda before the meeting helps in communicating with the attendees. This helps in keeping a tab on all the people who need to be invited for the meeting. It also helps in tracking all the topics that need to be discussed in a meeting which helps to conduct the meeting within the given period of time. • Stand up: Many companies now adopt different styles of meetings that are short, constructive and helpful. A stand up meeting is a great way of conducting a short meeting that helps attendees literally think on their feet. • Talk about the issue of conference room aggression: Meeting organizers/leaders can talk about this concern to the employees. They could suggest ways to vacate the conference rooms on time, emphasizing the need behind it. It is best to be honest about why something is causing you concern even though you may find it hard to do so. However, being open will enable your co-workers to see you as human and foster empathy. It is best to record all your business meetings instead of having a staff member take down notes and prepare minutes because it will help your employees stay relaxed and listen to what is being discussed. You can have the recordings transcribed later by hiring a general transcription service. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810