Warning signs: meetings and workshops

If we want our meetings to hum, we have to keep them serviced, a bit like a car. 

If we ignore that rattle in the engine, our car could break down. 

If we ignore the warning signs our meetings can break down too. They become a waste of time. People stop coming. 

Remember your first car? 

Michelle and Barak Obama teased each other about the cars they drove when they were young in the first episode of Michelle’s podcast. Hers was a Saab, with heated seats. His, a yellow one with a hole in the bottom. 

She makes fun of herself as ‘checking all the boxes’ with her luxury wheels while he was ‘…still driving those thousand-dollar, five-hundred-dollar cars.’

I was thrilled to find out that I have two things in common with this legendary duo. 

My mum loved her Saabs and my first car had a hole in the bottom. Big enough for me to put my feet through and run it around town like Fred Flintstone. 

I don’t know about Barak, but there was no hole in the floor of my VW Beetle when I bought it from a coastal town. Enough of a warning for any teenager buying their first car. Coast. Salt. Rust. 

I ignored the signs whenever I washed and vacuumed it. I just peeled off the flaky duco and bought a new floor mat. Replacing the head gaskets and then a re-conditioned engine took priority. Body work seemed an expensive luxury.

I told myself that it was a solid steel car that would hold its own in an accident. Lucky I never had to put that misguided belief to the test.

But that hole would never pass inspection and the registration expired. The reconditioned engine was worthless in a rusty shell. I sold it to a collector with deep pockets.

We can’t all drive a Saab but we can maintain whatever car we have. 

Keep an ear out for the niggling signs with your online meetings. They fall into four broad groups.

1.    Purpose
2.    Adjusting to new technology
3.    Communication
4.    Etiquette

More on these below.

I learned a lot about warning signs from my first car and took much better care of my next one. It remained a loyal chariot over 12 years. 

🎁 PSSS! Have you got your copy of my e-book Hum? It’s an illustrated business book that dives into the four problem areas with online meetings mentioned above. It’s my gift to you, as a blog reader, but only until the end of the month. Click here. 

Some of the problems with online meetings are harder to fix than others. Whenever you are ready, work with me 1:1. If you would like help with the harder problems, my Get Humming program can help.  Email me with the word “HUM” in the subject line. We’ll make a time to meet and see which of my programs would be a good fit for you.