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The Right Place - The Right Time |
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Last week I attended a breakfast presentation by a political leader. The setting was a general business crowd with the intent of the politician highlighting his strategy and progress. People attended the event with the intent of hearing how things were going from the politician and hopefully gaining – in one hour and thirty minutes – the planned next steps.
All good until the floor is opened up for questions. When you see the first audience “questioner” standing up with written notes you have a feeling this is not going to be good. The person went on to make a personal speech and commentary. The audience groaned and finally the moderator closed the person off as the topic had nothing to do with the objective of the session. Then audience questioner number two stands up and goes into a new impassioned speech about his topic of choice – no real question, just a personal agenda. And this was followed by the third questioner also airing his viewpoints. I left.
I give credit to the politician for politely acknowledging each person, making a general answer, and noting a better setting for the discussion. My thought was I had understood that we were attending to hear one speech and not many.
Even though each of the audience “speechifiers” may have valid questions, points, and perspectives, the setting was not the right time or the right place. Their need to promote personal agendas showed a real lack of respect for the audience and the organization. The politician was much more polite than I would have been (one further reason that there is no threat of my entering politics).
I see this happening in all business settings – from team meetings to strategy sessions. People are passionate about their perspective and take the opportunity to air their agendas regardless of the setting with the result of annoying other attendees and creating dissension. The VP who strongly believes the new marketing campaign will save the company and brings it up in full voice at the management meeting even though it is not on the agenda. It just wastes time and energy and effort.
You find the right time and place to make your presentation so that your audience is actually connected to you. Taking time in meetings planned for other objectives to air your own personal issues is disrespectful. Some may say this is the only way to get attention. If that is the case, I think a bigger issue is involved. Not being able to get on the agenda for the specific issue probably means there is no interest or support or credibility. Listen to the audience and connect to them – provide them with what they are there to hear.
I am open to people making their points – in the right place and at the right time. For all of us, time is our one limited resource. I think we owe each the respect to use each other’s time for the agreed objectives and stay on topic. Offer questions and opinions on the topic at hand but keep the rest for the right setting. With the right time and the right place, you also stand a much greater likelihood of gaining attention and engagement – and maybe commitment.
Just my thinking …
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