Deal with tiresome men who bang on in meetings

By Jackie Weaver, breakout star of a Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting

Some men (and a few women, too) just don’t know how to behave when it comes to conducting themselves in meetings.

Why do I feel strongly about this? I’ve certainly spent a great deal of my life in meetings. And since the video of Handforth Parish Council went viral (after our Zoom gathering descended into a power struggle of the sexes and the male chair announced to me: ‘You have no authority here!’) you might say people see me as something of a meetings expert. (I swiftly removed said chair with the press of a button.)

I have found my own ways of making meetings productive. First, take the power into your own hands by deciding which meeting you will (or won’t) attend. I’m also passionate about rules. Make rules together and work within them – then you can repeat them back to the person who’s going on. If questions or interruptions are an irritation for you, I guarantee they are annoying someone else, so let the group decide how and when it will deal with things like these. Also, choose your chair wisely, if choosing is an option. Don’t elect someone then bitch about how they do the job.

If all else fails, try the personal/ coffee approach. Give the ‘problem’ a really good listening to and demonstrate that you get it by following up on the conversation. Then hit the ‘mute’ button with no guilty conscience.

Jackie Weaver’s book, ‘You Do Have The Authority Here!’ is out 16 Sept (£12.99, Little Brown Book Group)