Discourage multitasking with clear ground rules, focused meetings

An HR manager poses this question: More and more meetings at our company involve people who call in. Human nature being what it is, many individuals-for whom it's a perennial struggle to get all their work done-multitask like crazy. After all, they figure that what others can't see (or hear) won't hurt them. As a result, meetings take longer, provide pretty poor results, and usually cause an endless loop of follow-on sessions. How can we avoid this costly problem?

You have described what Dennis Berman of the Wall Street Journal recently called "a new plague of inattention." Some refer to the steady stream of half-hearted "uh-huhs" as a kind of "absent presence" or "surfer's voice." We've all heard that telltale cacophony of key clicks and distracted responses from those who believe that cleaving the brain in two directions simultaneously is not only possible, but also downright mandatory these days.

How can you manage participants who habitually multitask during phone meetings? Here are some tips to keep in mind.

Make sure the meeting is relevant for everyone. Maybe some people can join only at critical junctures, freeing them to focus on other pressing work. Perhaps not everybody needs to participate, or can catch up on decisions via a post-meeting summary. The smaller the group, the more people will feel that their voices are really heard, giving them a greater incentive to pay attention. As the number of people who participate on the periphery goes up, so does the likelihood of their "wandering off" to tend to other things.
Allocate meeting time appropriately. Think about having people read documents in advance or listen to a virtual presentation so that you use the meeting time for discussion, debate and decision-making.
State ground rules about participation plainly at least twice-in advance and right before the meeting. In your meeting preparation document, try writing something like: "The decisions we need to reach are crucial, so it's essential that you focus your full attention during this hour." You might also get specific and ask that people refrain from handling other tasks during the meeting.
When you begin the call, reiterate the need for everyone's full attention. Ask if anyone has a special situation that requires him/her to take time away from the meeting, and when that temporary departure needs to take place, so that you can plan the discussion accordingly. By gaining verbal commitments from attendees right up front, they're less likely to slink away.
Stick to your stated agenda and strive to ensure that the team meets objectives through a well-directed conversation that's perceived as valuable by all. If you allow a conversation to stray too far off course, you'll have trouble maintaining the kind of credibility you need to insist that people pay full attention. When you fail to fulfill a commitment as the meeting leader, you make it easier for others to give themselves a virtual "hall pass."
Keep the pace quick and discussions concise. Nothing can drive someone to another task faster than a boring, meandering conversation.
Come prepared to keep people on their toes. For example, have a list of questions to which you'll be seeking responses. (Examples: What are the top three challenges our sales teams are facing today? What is our single greatest opportunity to outpace our nearest competitor? What priority would you assign items in the following list? What do you like best /worst about X?) If you can let them know what you'll be asking in advance, all the better, since they're more likely to attend with thoughtful responses they're eager to share.
Vary the order and way in which you ask questions. Keep people guessing to avoid ennui. For example, you might note the order in which people join the call, and assign each a number on a clock, starting with 1:00. For one set of questions, start with 1:00 and go clockwise (or counterclockwise) until you hear a response from everyone. Another time you can ask for volunteers to go first, and check to see whether others have additional ideas not already covered.
Try reversing the usual "all on mute except speaking" ground rule. Ask everyone to stay off mute so they can be ready to participate instantly. This way, you'll hear any errant key clicks that reveal multitasking is occurring, and you can be prepared to make some well-timed comments.
Use technology when possible to focus attention. For example, a virtual classroom environment allows everyone to participate both via phone and within a web-based "classroom" area, complete with whiteboard, a chat-like capability to pose questions, a chance to vote, ability to share applications, and even-if appropriate-throw tomatoes and award gold stars. The more dynamic and interactive the application, the less likely people are to toggle to an unrelated activity.
If someone is diminishing the value of the conversation by multitasking, you may have to come right out and say so. You'll need to consider how well you know the person, how formal or informal the meeting structure, the topic at hand, your authority to control behavior, etc. You might try something like (with humor): "Now Carol, can those telltale key clicks really be coming from you?" Or (more seriously) "Bill, I realize you have a ton on your plate now, but if you can just give us 15 more minutes of your undivided attention, we can let you go. Would that be okay?" The more you ignore the offending behavior, the more others are likely to assume that your tacit permission makes it okay for everyone to follow suit.
If worse comes to worst and you suspect that most meeting participants have moved on to something else, you may have to simply announce that you are ending the meeting, but before you do, you need to know when people can be prepared to spend focused time on completing the unfinished tasks. Try asking for a few smaller chunks of time, rather than trying for a longer period that may be difficult to schedule.

With everyone paying full attention, most phone-based meetings can end far more quickly, with better results. Your job is to persuade participants that their contributions are truly valuable, and that you plan to take your job of running a productive meeting very seriously. The more you can show that you're capable of leading the team to meet their objectives, the more likely they'll be to find other meetings in which to multitask.

[The author did not multitask-much-while writing any part of this newsletter.]

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