M4 007: How To Lighten The Mood Of Any Meeting

One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week

How about funny meeting story to start your week and lighten the mood?

This one is at the expense of a former coworker of mine, whose identity will forever remain unknown.

This is a true story from the good old days – WAY back before we had video conferencing and remote participants were included using audio-only conference calls.

Yes, for you new in your careers, that used to be the best we could do.

I was leading a project review meeting for the leaders of our business unit. We were doing an update on the development of an important new product line.

To give you the context, the division had annual revenue of just over $1B. And, we were investing millions of dollars in these projects.

The primary audience for this meeting were the top business leaders. There were at least 20 other people in the crowded conference room. Maybe more.

The executive leaders were asking hard questions. Debating. Making decisions. Leading the business. Serious stuff.

It was INTENSE!

Then we heard it. As much as we wanted to ignore it, we couldn’t miss the unmistakable sound coming from the speaker phone.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Yep. Snoring. LOUD snoring that wouldn’t stop.

And, even the top-of-the-house leaders couldn’t keep a straight face. They lost it! Then everyone in the room cracked up.

That poor dude.

Thankfully, for the snoozer’s sake, we were on land lines.

And, no one knew for sure who dozed off during the call (but we had some pretty good guesses!)

So, if you’re reading this, former very fatigued coworker, thank you.

Thank you for bringing a moment of levity and humanity to a tense, high-level executive meeting.

And, thank you for giving everyone reading this a chuckle and a warning to stay alert during all our meetings this week.

Which reminds me – I need another cup of coffee!

More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business

I don’t recommend sleeping during meetings, but most people do need to get more sleep.

That’s why I included “Sleep More” in my list of 7 techniques to build your career by being lazy.

Sounds counterintuitive doesn’t it?

Check out this article “How To Build Your Career By Being Lazy” where I explain what I mean.

If you’re a “go getter” when it comes to your career, you’ll discover how to get more by doing less.

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors

If the Project Reviews in your business are putting people to sleep, try the scorecards and dashboards in the Project Review Scorecard Toolkit.

Click here to make your next Project Review meeting less boring and much more effective!

That’s All for this Issue

Thank you so much for reading my funny meeting story this week.

I hope it brightened your day and gave you a positive start for your week.

What’s your funniest meeting experience? I would love to hear your story.

Please shoot me an email or DM me on LinkedIn and share it with me.

Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!

Greg


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  1. Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
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