Virtual Blowhards

Meeting blowhards are people who repeatedly consume more talk time in meetings than the value of their contributions can justify. Being a blowhard is not about getting more than one's "fair share" of talk time. What matters most is whether the time blowhards consume is in line with the value of their contributions.

Most of the techniques that control blowhards so effectively in face-to-face meetings don't work as well in virtual meetings. For example, in a face-to-face meeting, if a blowhard is just starting to hold forth, we might declare a break to interrupt the blowhard, and resume after the break with a change of topic. But in a virtual meeting, if we declare a break, we can lose valuable time and perhaps several participants.

Because blowhard behavior is a performance issue, it's best to deal with the problem through the blowhard's supervisor. But to handle it in the moment, here's a set of suggestions for controlling blowhards in both face-to-face meetings and virtual meetings.

Manage the queue

Most large meetings (more than six to eight people) maintain queues of people waiting to speak. Many small meetings don't, because informality usually works. But if blowhards are present, queue management helps in rationing time: "Let's leave it there, we have a couple of people in the queue."

Limit time per contribution

Agree in advance to cap the time contributors receive with each speaking opportunity. Three minutes might seem short, but try it. Filling three minutes with real, original value is usually difficult when speaking extemporaneously.

Limit the number of points per contribution

Agree in Agree in advance to cap the
time contributors receive with
each speaking opportunityadvance that contributors limit themselves to just a few points, subject to the ruling of the chair. Limits make the conversation easier to follow, but more important, they compel people to focus on what they regard as most important. And they hobble blowhards. Two is a good number.

Ruthlessly enforce a no-digression rule

Because consuming large chunks of time while staying on topic is difficult, blowhards wander. Define a no-digression norm, and appoint a Designated Digression Detector with the authority to interrupt the meeting at any time, to enforce it.

Ban voluntary summaries

Because summaries consume time without requiring original thought, blowhards love summarizing others' contributions. Ban voluntary summaries. Let that be a duty of the chair, or delegate it to a Designated Summarizer who fills the chair's requests for summaries.

Ban restating others' contributions

Restating what others have said, with possible distortions, is another pattern blowhards love. Ban restatements as a waste of time. Require all contributors to make their own points directly.

Have build-only discussions

Another favored blowhard pattern is deflecting the conversation into territory more favorable to the blowhard. Declaring a discussion to be "build-only" prevents this. All contributions to build-only discussions have the property that they build on, elaborate, or make inquiries about one or more previous contributions.

Don't engage

Engaging the blowhard with objections, interjections, critiques, or almost anything else only serves the blowhard's purposes, because engagement usually requires a response from the blowhard. If private intervention has failed, and supervisor intervention has failed, and the blowhard behavior continues, let the blowhard's contribution plop (See "Plopping," Point Lookout for October 22, 2003). If someone else picks it up, deal with it then.

I'll stop here. I don't want to be a blowhard.  Top    Next Issue

Are your virtual meetings plagued by inattentiveness, interruptions, absenteeism, and a seemingly endless need to repeat what somebody just said? Do you have trouble finding a time when everyone can meet? Do people seem disengaged and apathetic? Or do you have violent clashes and a plague of virtual bullying? Read Leading Virtual Meetings for Real Results to learn how to make virtual meetings much more productive and less stressful — and a lot shorter. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Virtual and Global Teams:

Outsourcing Each Other's Kids

Outsourcing is now so widespread that it has achieved status as a full-fledged management fad. But many outsourcing decisions lack the justification that a full financial model provides. Here are some of the factors that such a model should include.

Costs of the Catch-Me-Up Antipattern: II

When we interrupt a meeting to recap the action so far for a late-arriving attendee, the cost of the recap itself is just the beginning. There are some less-obvious costs that can be even greater.

Polychronic Meetings

In very dynamic contexts, with multiple issues to address, we probably cannot rely on the usual format of single-threaded meeting with a list of agenda items to be addressed each in their turn. A more flexible, issue-driven format might work better.

Disjoint Awareness: Bias

Some cognitive biases can cause people in collaborations to have inaccurate understandings of what each other is doing. Confirmation bias and self-serving bias are two examples of cognitive biases that can contribute to disjoint awareness in some situations.

New Virtual Meetings for Teams

Now that so many members of so many teams are working from home, the virtual meeting has taken on a new form, and new importance. Here are suggestions for making your virtual team meetings more effective.

See also Virtual and Global Teams and Virtual and Global Teams for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 14: Working with the Overconfident

A cognitive bias known as the Overconfidence Effect causes us to overestimate the reliability of our judgments. Decisions we make based on those judgments are therefore suspect. But there are steps we can take to make our confidence levels more realistic, and thus make our decisions more reliable. Available here and by RSS on May 14.

And on May 21: Mismanaging Project Managers

Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don't grant those project managers control of needed resources. Nor do they hold project sponsors or other senior managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with project work. Here's a catalog of behaviors worth looking at. Available here and by RSS on May 21.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info