How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

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  1

  kengrace64

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  This seems to me like a recipe for cultivating resentment and a culture of self interest. Not only is it destructive, but it's also so transparent that anyone who practiced it would earn a lousy reputation in no time. This is a nasty little post if you ask me.

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  2

  4adams

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Hijack Someon Else's Meeting

  Seems like it would be a lot easier and more effective to just
  hold your own meeting.

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  3

  jfriend80

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  give these suggetions some serious "golden rule" thought first...

  How to Lose Work Friends and Alienate Superiors/Colleagues would be a better title given some of the suggestions here... tact should rule the day in any business. some the suggestions here that include volunteering to help the organizer are positive and helpful, and I agree. But if you pull #6 on me (just as an example), that's extremely disrespectful, especially if you don't give the leader a chance to do so himself/herself.

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  4

  jasonkjohnston

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I can see how this can be viewed as a nasty tactic. However, I am an engineer who has to sit in a sales meeting every friday. I am also responsible for providing training for our field personnel an some office personnel as well. I need to take control of the meeting sometimes or else the important stuff doesn't get done. I have to steer things towards training and technolgy or else all the sales and process in the world won't do my company any good at all. So nasty yes, but sometime absolutely necessary.

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  5

  kjameshall

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  It's a sad commentary on American business that people who play these games are the ones who get ahead. Whatever happened to doing what was in the best interest of the company. If you have a topic that is worthy of a meeting, call your own. Otherwise, pass on the other meeting. Geoffrey James, you are disgusting!

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  6

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 5:
  Quote: Whatever happened to doing what was in the best interest of the company.
  
  If you think that holding a meeting to discuss the content of a marketing brochure is in the best interest of a company, you need to go back to business school.
  

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  7

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 1, 2 and 3:
  Aw, you're just all upset because you now realize that most of your meetings have been hijacked for years. You can be mad at me if you like, but the real problem is that you never bothered to learn about office politics in the first place.

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  8

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 3:
  But if you pull #6 on me (just as an example), that's extremely disrespectful, especially if you don't give the leader a chance to do so himself/herself.
  
  Au contraire, if I pulled #6 on you, you'd send me a little note thanking me, because (trust me on this) you'd have no idea whatsoever what I just did -- before reading this post, that is. Here's why: the memo I sent out would start with praising you for setting up such a great meeting and would point out that the brochure copy was enormously improved. The memo would then segue to my issue, and give you credit for surfacing such an important subject and bring it to resolution. In fact, you'd probably ask to have the memo put into your employee file. And you'd have no idea whatsoever that you were manipulated.
  
  Trust me, this stuff happens all the time. I'm just breaking with tradition by writing the truth about it.

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  9

  DBSABZB

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I can't believe that what I thought was a respectable site posted this self-aggrandizing piece of garbage masquerading as "business advice".

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  10

  pkrufus

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  If this is what's happening in corporate America, then you guys deserve the mess you're in. You've only been promoting yourselves and your own interests. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Yeah, right. And the whole system collapses as a result. Looks like the execs in board rooms are dumber than the average Joes on the street. Because you guys just don't get it. Don't think the rest of the people don't see through you. Don't for a moment think you've got away with your sneakiness. Because we're bosses too. We're in charge of hiring too. And we ask around when it comes to people like you. And believe me, you will pay dearly.
  
  And Mr James, if you think you're doing us a favour by bringing these practices to light, thanks, but no thanks. That's like telling someone how to rob a bank and not expecting them to do it. After all, they're adults, right? You can't be responsible for someone else's actions, right? Grow up, Mr James. Get real.

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  11

  techno_pen

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  This is a pretty neat tongue-in-cheek little piece. The title should have clued everyone in. It seemed obvious to me that this was a piece written in jest, probably in a boring meeting, and is actually quite amusing.

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  12

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 9:
  
  Quote: I can't believe that what I thought was a respectable site posted this self-aggrandizing piece of garbage masquerading as "business advice".
  
  God forbid anybody provide advice that addresses how the world really works. But I suppose you're right. How about a series of post about empowerment or some other total bull waste?

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  13

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 10:
  Read the last paragraph of the post. Only chumps let their meeting get hijacked. And since the business world is full of chumps, it's no surprise that most meeting get hijacked by the people who understand the way the business world really works.
  
  But it's very amusing that you don't get angry at the chumps for being so easily manipulated. Even when they're being manipulated into doing something useful rather than just wasting time.

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  14

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 11:
  Totally wrong. I did not write this tongue-in-cheek. It's a real technique that happens in about half the meetings in the business world. The 10 percent of the people who know how to do it run everything and get what they want. Everyone else are chumps who let themselves get used.
  
  I provided a recipe to become a non-chump in the last paragraph. Most chumps, though, would rather complain about people manipulating them than take the simple precautions that non-chumps use to make sure their own meetings don't get hijacked.
  
  Incredible that people can get so upset when a smart person manipulates the dodos into doing productive work for a change.

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  15

  mbpatel

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Wow!!! I thought there was only one BNET "writer" who had his head far up in that deeeeeeeeep dark space .... Now I found another one !!! Yaaaaay !!!

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  16

  Arleann

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I think this is brilliant! I've seen hijack attempts using much cruder tactics, (e.g., speaking the loudest & longest, just refusing to stick to the agenda topic), which always cause grief for the meeting organizer and pain for the attendees. Nothing is accomplished and people learn to stop attending those meetings.
  
  These steps won't let you hijack a successfully run meeting, and I really doubt there is a danger of a good company making bad decisions in a hijacked meeting - the new "destination" still needs to have some value.
  
  I love #5 & #6. They do work. I have always maintained editing rights when someone else "volunteers" to take notes at my meetings.

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  17

  Pnopoes

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I don't understand why you guys gets so holy about this post.
  Turning a 'waste of time' meeting into something useful, is actually beneficial for any company. I call it "Save a meeting", and I have done it many times.
  Bare in mind that if the meeting is well managed, and has a good purpose, no-one will feel like 'high-jacking' it.
  I agree with james, quit whinning about being a loser, and start getting the work done.

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  18

  tvassell

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I never thought it was a bad article. I guess i'm guilty of high-jacking but I thought I was being productive in several ?/..?!! meetings. In fact many persons usually thank me for my input after the meetings and add "well at least we sorted something out" making it not a total waste of time!
  The only difference is - I usually don't plan to high-jack but after realising that the meeting is going to be a total waste of time - I usually find something pertinent to at least half of the attendees and throw it in the mix which tends to shift the focus somewhat!

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  19

  pwstefanie

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Hey Geoffrey James, thank you for the post despite what most people think. In the corporate world there are alot of things that happen that may not be pleasant to everyone.
  
  For those who hold meetings that have been hijacked before, maybe it is time to evaluate how you do your meetings and change the approach and make sure the content/objective requires a meting, otherwise swap it with walking up to people or calling them to get their input and leave meetings for something more critical.
  
  The only part I disagree with Geoff, is the bit where you mention if it?s politically valuable for you to attend then do so. I would not attend if my role is not clear and if I thought I do not have much to contribute. Why not try asking in advance what is expected of you at the meeting and if it is possible to send your contribution to the meeting convener prior to the meeting and review your input with them before they pass it on to the meeting? Just a thought...

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  20

  mayorbrain

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  First, this is a very good article.
  
  Second, we have lots of ""kids" on this forum, we always want to be told the good stuff,... "Selling more than the....." "how to be rich in 6 ...."...., but when someone sticks out and writes the truth, we all whine.
  
  I personally belive the article reflects on the true state of the corporate world, and even though hijacking meetings isn 't a survival technique in that world, it sure makes you fair better.

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  21

  Bhoite

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Meetings do get hijacked from time to time. Many times unknowingly or without any specific intention to do so. I run Account Management Process and I am used to see this happening 70% of the time in A/C review meetings. Everybody, except the A/C manager gives update or ideas. Hence, now I have circulated guidelines (which essentially are to prevent hijacking) and also tutoring the A/C managers to hold their fort.

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  22

  tnbasant

  11/03/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Never gonna follow this advice. You should not post this kind of
  articles in the first place.

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  23

  middleaged

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Looks like you struck a nerve with this one.
  
  Message to all the dissenters, before you get angry with Jeff for telling you how it is, think about how many times you have seen meeting's hi-jacked.
  Stop whining and start to recognise the tactics that Geoff writes about, and think about how you might counter them.
  
  If you are really lucky, Geoff may write another post titled 'How to stop your meetings being hijacked'.
  
  If you are going to run a meeting.
  
  1) Write the Agenda yourself.
  2) Ensure you control the meeting through strong chairmanship.
  3) Ensure that you write the minutes.
  4) Understand the participants of the meeting and think about their agendas, and how they can be accommodated or post-poned to another meeting.
  
  If the meeting is well planned, well chaired and executed, the tactics that Geoff Describes are much harder to implement.
  
  Stop thinking about what the world should be like, and think about how you can be most effective in the world as it actually is.

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  24

  NCWATKIS

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Jeff is absolutely right. But the trick is to be subtle with your actions. That way, no one realises you have manipulated the meeting, and they think that the outcomes were all theirs.

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  25

  paq999

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 23
  
  I concur. Irrespective of what anyone thinks the purpose of the note was or indeed the tone used, don't waste energy on the negaitves, focus on what you can learn from.

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  26

  kjameshall

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 23
  
  This post approaches the situation correctly. Talk about how an employee can make the meeting more effective instead of trying to subvert it. And call your own damned meeting for issues on your own agenda. Otherwise, it sounds to me like you are letting someone else do all the legwork to arrange your meeting. Typical of the "hand wavers" who get others to do their work and then take all the credit.
  
  Re Note 6
  
  Sounds to me like you had a personal axe to grind regarding this marketing brochure situation rather than wanting to make the company run more efficiently.

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  27

  TPPNV

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  I am amazed that there are those people out there that have gotten so upset by this. Some of the comments are making huge assumptions about the hijack and still clearly do not understand what he is saying. I don't do this but it would be wonderful if it happened more often.
  So many times those holding the meetings do so to hear themselves talk and sell their point. I think if there was more it would be helpful as more ideas would come to light and be discussed. The assumption that what is going to be brought up isn't the right thing and isn't the best option for the company is stupid. He is not telling you to waste time or do this if it isn't legit. Yes we are all adults and if it worked that way in companies there would be smarter choices - instead it is generally a few who make the decisions and don't want to hear anything else and don't always have all the info or the best for the company at heart.
  Maybe the article should have just been How to communicate a different opinion in a meeting. I wonder if it would have been taken differently. If you want to get this upset take on a real problem and take this as it is one person's view that will work for some in certain situations and not for others.

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  28

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/04/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 27:
  Actually, I AM saying that you should hijack a meeting if you must attend and if it's otherwise going to be a waste of everyone's time.
  
  Look, EXACTLY half of everyone you work with is of below the average intelligence of the people working for you firm. Exactly half. It's up to the smarter folk to guide the dumber folk into productive activity. And if that means sometimes being manipulative, so be it.

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  29

  paq999

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 28:
  
  I think you are approaching it from the wrong angle and unnecessarily using emotive language. Wouldn't it be in the best interest of a business if the focus was on coaching people to run more effective meetings.
  There is obviousley something wrong with the culture of a business where one MUST attend a meeting which they believe will be a waste of time. Focus on sorting out the culture. Everyone attending a meeting should understand what the PURPOSE of the meeting is, what the PROCESS will be and what the PAYOFF for everyone attending is. If you don't know the answers to these questions then ask whoevever called the meeting for clarification before the meeting or at least at the start of the meeting.

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  30

  4adams

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Thank you for the definition of averages (28). I have to say
  that those who hijack meetings are clearly in the bottom half
  of that group, by definition.
  
  The people who are in the top half of the intelligence group
  do not leave their company's direction up to the whims of
  who can hijack the most meetings. The truly intelligent
  business leaders will collaborate to create a strategic plan
  with clear objectives and strategies with measurable
  outcomes.
  Each person in the organization has a personal action plan
  that supports those strategies with, once again, agreed upon
  measures for success.
  Every meeting specifically supports one or more strategies
  that are aligned to the firm's mission, vision and values.
  
  When a company is run in this way, each meeting has a
  purpose and everyone has a role in achieving measurable
  outcomes. If you hijack a meeting, you are preventing the
  firm from achieving its vision.

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  31

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 30:
  You need to start reading more Dilbert and less Tom Peters. Because the former is a heck of a lot closer to reality than the latter.
  
  It's only the mooncalfs who let their meetings get hijacked that are the problem. If somebody is too dumb to figure out that you're being manipulated, then they're too dumb to contribute anything of value, even if their meeting went forward as planned.
  
  I learned a long time ago that there are two ways to deal with fools: 1) spend six months educating them and rewiring their brains so that they're not fools any longer, 2) Figure out how to get productive work done by working around the fools.
  
  Strategy #1 takes lots of time and effort and (more importantly) almost never works.
  
  Strategy #2 takes almost no time and effort and (more importantly) almost always works.
  
  So go ahead and "collaborate" to create "strategic plans" with "clear objectives". If your company's lucky, maybe somebody will hijack that meeting and turn it into something that's actually productive.

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  32

  gman62

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  Seems pretty transparent to me.

  If these techniques work on someone, then they have no business chairing a meeting to begin with. It shouldn't take a genius to see another employee loading the meeting with his own list of attendees, recommendating additional topics, and volunteering to take control of what is recorded. Which I think is exactly Geoffrey's point - however in-your-face his writing style may be.
  
  And Geoffrey - "general consensus"? Redundant much?

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  33

  pkrufus

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  At first, I thought people (myself included) were reacting because of the way the article was titled. I mean, would we have reacted the same way if the title read: How not to let someone else hijack your meeting? But I guess we?re just reacting, like anyone else would, to someone with the ultimate superiority complex.
  
  ?I learned a long time ago that there are two ways to deal with fools?? Strong language, Mr James. Obviously, you hold too high an opinion of yourself. Obviously, you?re the one in the meeting who?s got it all figured out; the others are just a bunch of morons. If only management could see what a gem you are. But they?re just a bunch of fools anyway. Just like most of the people behind the comments here.

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  34

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/05/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 33:
  Quote: If only management could see what a gem you are.
  
  Back when I did work inside a Fortune 100 firm, I had the good sense to write my own agendas and minutes. Not many of the meeting I held got hijacked. That's the point, of course. Not to hijack, but to not GET hijacked.
  
  Geez, do I have to spell this stuff out. Use a little imagination!
  
  As for my remarks about "fools"... You and I both know that foolishness is a common human condition. The difference between you and me is that I recognize that reality, and then adapt accordingly. You pretend that it's not true and that there's something wrong with saying out loud what everyone else is privately thinking.

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  35

  bjs36

  11/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Actually, I have had hijacks happen to me on a number of occasions in spite of having a meeting agenda, powerpoint presentations and support in the audience and it made me angry inside. Unfortunately the person that hijacks the meeting is usually someone much higher than me in management. Some managers seem to like to hear themselves talk. Usually the result is a complete lack of accomplishment because the meeting was completely sidetracked.

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  36

  mbpatel

  11/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  LOL ... I don't know whether the author should put "Sales Machine" after his name, if he can't even sale his idea presented in his article without getting desperately and pathetically defensive and trying to steamroll opposing views by calling them fools!
  
  But of course, I am sure the author has totally figured out and mastered this new "Sales Technique" and I am just not intellectually qualified to understand his genius! I guess in all my future meetings with sales reps, I will brace myself to be called a fool if I don't buy their sales pitch ... NOT !!!
  

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  37

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  11/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Re Note 36:
  Just to clarify... the people I'm calling foolish are the people who call meetings and then let them get hijacked, not the people commenting on this blog.

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  38

  ConservativeMBA

  11/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  After reading the article, I though to myself, "This is great stuff, but there's one problem: I am probably one of those fools who would get hijacked." So, I guess for me, this article serves as an awareness that this happens, and to hopefully allow me to better recognized when someone is being hijacked. Moreover, it will help me recognize if I am being hijacked. Even more importantly, i can now go into meetings with a clear mindset "is this going to be productive? If not: What can I do to get something good done in spite of poor leadership?" As GJ said, good leaders with clear vision and a structured meeting are much less likely to get jacked.
  Overall: I say this is a good article. Let's address the way the world really works, and learn how to operate in a less than perfect environment. If I cannot adapt, my time will be wasted more often than I can handle.
  Thanks Mr. James.

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  39

  ConservativeMBA

  11/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Also, to those who disagree:
  
  I understand you're disagreement, but understand that this is the world we live in, and it's important to be cunning. Not to hurt the company, but to circumvent problems with the company to keep it productive.

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  40

  ubi.wan.z

  11/15/09 | Report as spam

  RE: How To Hijack Someone Else's Meeting

  Well, to share my experience, I've done this many times in one form or another over the course of my career; doesn't matter whether it was when I was a lowly executive 10 years ago or as a head of a division now, the trick works.
  
  I can understand that some people see it as nasty because it's manipulative in kind; but hey, I have to use it to get results that worth my time attending the meeting at the first place. The example given by the author is the *ideal* set-up (heck I don't think one can pull all of it off at one go in one seating) but most of the time just a few of those would do the trick just nicely.
  
  Obviously subtlety, diplomacy and tact are required to run it *properly* or keep it well hidden . Sometimes it's like rope-a-dope, sometimes as a bit of distraction, sometimes something else. Like the person above commented, definitely not to hurt the company - we want to keep it productive, including the meeting time it's spending on.