As the dog of this blog is highly fortunate to be excused from meetings for life, The Typist is playing this one alone today. Over at RevGalBlogPals, Reverendmother writes:
In honor of a couple of marathon meetings I attended this week:
1. What's your view of meetings? Choose one or more, or make up your own:
a) When they're good, they're good. I love the feeling of people working well together on a common goal.
b) I don't seek them out, but I recognize them as a necessary part of life.
c) The only good meeting is a canceled meeting.
b) I don't seek them out, but I recognize them as a necessary part of life.
c) The only good meeting is a canceled meeting.
I'm pretty much in the camp of b). I do a lot of sitting on my butt for the Lord (or, more often, for the church), and I confess freely that I do get impatient with them. I'd rather just DO stuff!
2. Do you like some amount of community building or conversation, or are you all business?
It's great for a newly-gathered group to have those elements, but for those where we already know each other and interact regularly, I prefer limiting the community building to prayer requests and move on with the agenda as quickly as possible. Of course, informal conversation before and/or after the meeting are great... let's just not tie up everyone's time with it.
3. How do you feel about leading meetings? Share any particular strengths or weaknesses you have in this area.
Ooh, I can't stand to lead meetings... I run, quickly, from chairing anything. I'm better at filling the role of snarky commentator and comic relief.
4. Have you ever participated in a virtual meeting? (conference call, IM, chat, etc.) What do you think of this format?
Tons of times. I really like a certain brand of webconferencing, but don't really want to give it an advertisement here. Conference calls are effective as long as all participants actually talk, and also remember to identify themselves (I've totally mixed up identities of male voices before, and directed comments in follow-up emails to the wrong people -- but nothing embarrassing, thankfully).
5. Share a story of a memorable meeting you attended.
A leadership meeting in our congregation years ago, when someone who is now no longer a member stated that he wasn't getting his ROI out of the church. I was new on church staff and intimidated enough by that fact that I bit my tongue the rest of the evening and let someone else say, much more gently than I would have, that it helps to SHOW UP at church instead of going to your lake house every weekend.
Oh, and Reverendmother, thanks for the ever-so-appropriate graphic! I use that line all the time.
Image from despair.com, a wicked and funny site.
12 comments:
rate of investment????? you are KIDDING me!!!! although I am not surprised that someone said that, I am surprised that someone said that. oh my. fun post. my dogs are downstairs supervising the window guys putting in new windows in the living room...is that a meeting?
there's a snarky section? wow no one told me... can the pastor truly be in that section though? hmmm maybe that's where chewing gum in meeting comes in???
I also like to be in the snarky section... I can't help the comments. they just COME OUT!
:)
d
P.S. Tiria doesn't do meetings, either.
well playedcvneb, thanks!
Padme likes to participate in conference calls... she has a meow that travels well over the line...
I do not like meetings, I do not like it, said Janie I am.
I do not like green meetings and ham.
However, Zack the Wonder Dog likes meetings of the birdy type...as long as I have my shotgun and he's ready to retrieve! ;)
Scout does meetings at the dog park, but they are much more fun than ours.
I wish I was a dog and did not have meetings!
can't wait until I hear Cub's answers to Rowan's questions!
I like meetings when they are here. Sometimes nice quiet meetings they need a cat to say "Ahroooooooooo?" which is catly "amen" (in case you only speak dog.)
Tiria
The Shadow Princess
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