Whether you are leading meetings, doing sales calls, or even interacting with a friends or family, sooner or later you will encounter someone who is a constant complainer. One of the characteristics of an effective leader is their ability to handle perpetual whiners without putting the other person down.
In our book, No More Lame Conference Calls – The 6 Principles You Need to Lead Great Meetings, we outline a simple way to deal with this issue. The technique is to use the word “Pause.”
Regardless of the setting, “Pause” is a powerful word that can help you keep difficult situations under control, especially when someone on your meeting becomes angry.
For example, assume that one of the people on your conference is whining about your company’s lack of support and your boss is sitting in on the call. The way you handle this situation can determine whether you step up to the next level in your company or become stuck in a nowhere job.
Here’s how to use “pause.”
“John, could I ask you to pause for a moment please? If I understand you correctly, you are unhappy with the level of the company’s support of the sales team. Is that correct?”
Assuming that John says, “Yes,” then ask, “John, could you recommend a single step that we can take to fix this situation?”
This is known as a “pattern interrupt” and is an effective way to break a tense situation.
“Pause” is a polite way to stop the rant. More importantly, by asking John to come up with a solution, the onus is now on him to offer a solution rather than just complaining.
“Pause” is also particularly effective with windbags. Here’s what to say:
“John, would you please pause for a moment and sum up your point in a single sentence?”
Or if Mary has wondered off on a tangent, you could bring her back to the point by saying,
“Mary will you pause for a moment. We were discussing what our Twitter marketing strategy should be. Do you have anything to add to that specific topic?”
CAVEAT: When using “pause,” keep your voice and your tone neutral. Any anger or frustration that you may have about the person or the situation must not show in your voice when you say, “pause.” Failure to follow this guideline can create hostility and derail what you hope to achieve.
Whether you’re leading a meeting in a face-to-face environment or on a conference call, using “Pause” is one of the best ways to improve the effectiveness of your meetings.
Posted by Bernice Ross, LeadGreatMeetings.com
Do you need more tips on being an effective leader? If so, check out our Let Me At It! Leadership Training Program designed specifically for people who lead conference calls. This program helps you integrate the Six Principles of leading powerful meetings from No More Lame Conference Calls with a 3-5 minute audio tip, five days a week, for eight weeks. Don’t settle for lame when you can be playing at the top of your game!
