Meeting Meddlers
Material Needed: A copy of the Meeting Meddler Roles (click here)
Time Required: The game takes place during an already scheduled meeting. No additional time is required aside from a 2-5 minute debrief at the end.
Group Size: 10-50
Purpose: To make meetings more positive, to show that small changes can make big impacts
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Before the meeting, decide which group members would be best suited to play each of the Meeting Meddler roles.
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Once you have decided ask each person individually if she or he would be willing to play the role.
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Be sure to tell them that nobody else should know that any meddling is taking place.
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Make plans to reimburse those meddlers who are bringing something material to the meeting.
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During the meeting, give positive reinforcement to the meddlers, as appropriate, but do not let on that there is a conspiracy going on.
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At the end of the meeting, ask the participants if they felt that anything seemed different than usual.
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Solicit answers and then let everyone know that you had previously conspired with a few of the participants to make the meeting more positive and upbeat.
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Point out that some of the communication was contrived, this did not make the meeting any less effective or undermine the business purpose of the meeting
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Depending on the general personality of your group, you may or may not want the Meeting Meddlers to identify themselves and tell everyone which roles they played during the meeting.
Variations:
Expand the debrief session to ask participants what else they would like to see happen during the meeting.
Source:
Deming, V. (2004). The Big Book of Leadership Games. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. P. 22-24.
Meeting Meddler Roles Click Here
