June 25, 2025 • 15 mins
Are you silently spiralling over a big presentation coming up? Or working from home and crushing projects but feeling totally invisible come performance review time? Or here's the uncomfortable truth bomb – are you actually the colleague who turns every team catch-up into your personal TED talk?
This week on BIZ Inbox, Em Vernem and Sarah Davidson are serving up hard truths about meeting monopolisers who suck all the oxygen out of the room, plus sharing subtle tactics to give your quieter teammates a chance to shine without staging a workplace intervention.
We're also solving the absolute terror of public speaking with psychology tricks that actually work (spoiler: clench your butt cheeks – seriously, it's science), and helping remote workers prove their worth when they're competing against the office crowd from their kitchen table.
Got office politics nightmares or boss-from-hell situations? Send us a voice note or email us at podcast@mamamia.com.au. You can remain completely anonymous!
SHOW MENTIONS:
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HOSTS: Sarah Davidson and Em Vernem
SENIOR PRODUCER: Sophie Campbell
AUDIO PRODUCER: Leah Porges
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to Amma mea podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello, and welcome to biz Inbox. I'm m Vernon and
you just stepped into your judgment free zone for all
things career related.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I'm Sarah Davidson, a lawyer turned entrepreneur, ready to
get real about workplace challenges and dive into some workplace
real talk.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I am so excited.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Think of these biz Inbox episodes as your career confessional booth.
You can be completely anonymous if you're struggling with office politics,
building a business, dealing with a boss from hell, whatever
it is.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
We are all is.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Today we're chatting about those colleagues who treat meetings like
their very own ted talk me sorry to everyone, and
proving your worth to your boss from your home office.
But let's start off with a question we got in
that's something that I think everyone on earth can relate to. Really,
why public speaking is absolutely terrifying?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh my god, this question tackles the number one workplace fear.
And no, it's not accidentally replying all, which I have
done more times than i'd like to admit.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
This comes in from.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Casey and she wrote, I'm presenting to senior leadership tomorrow
and I'm incredibly nervous. My voice tends to shake and
I lose my train of thought when anxious. I've tried
using voice notes to keep me on track, but then
my shaking hands become even more obvious as I'm fumbling
with paper. It's like my body is determined to expose
(01:45):
my nerves one way or another. What techniques do you
recommend for staying composed during high pressure conversations? Any tips
would be so appreciated, Sarah, you do a lot of
public speaking and a lot of presenting, like I feel
like you are perfect to answer this question.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Oh my gosh, well it's such a valid one, Casey,
I feel like a lot of people. I can't remember
what the statistic is, but a lot of people are
more scared of public speaking than they are of like death.
Like it's people's number one fear worldwide. Such anxiety inducing
activity for so many, And I guess one of the
(02:23):
first things is be gentle on yourself. Nerves are so normal.
Even after I would say probably more than a thousand
speaking gigs, I still get nervous. So the goal is
not for the nerves to disappear completely. So that's one
thing we all get nerves. It's a really good sign
that you care about the outcome, that you care about
doing a good job. It's just about, like you said,
(02:44):
learning how to not let them totally overtake you. And
there's a couple of things that really help with that.
I think the first is practice. It definitely gets easier
over time. So when I look at my first speaking
gigs when I was, like, you know, really young, in
my early twenties versus now, the comfort level is dramatically different,
and that just comes with practice.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
But there are so.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Many little things that you can do in the lead
up that can sort of reduce the capacity of those
nerves to overcome you. So deep breathing is a really
big thing just beforehand, because your heart rate getting away
from itself is part of the thing that makes you shake.
It's the thing that makes your brain so flighty that
you lose train of thought. So big deep breast beforehand.
(03:26):
There's a lot of psychology around the poses that you
stand in beforehand while you're doing that breathing to kind
of instill a bit more confidence in you, sort of
instead of shrinking away and having your shoulders round it,
it's put your shoulders back so that you can get
as much air into your body as you can. Practicing
parts of your speech in advance so that if you
do lose your train of thought, you've got muscle memory.
(03:47):
Even just the intro. I feel like if you deliver
that confidently, that helps carry you through the next bit.
So I know it sounds silly, but doing your speech
to your mirror the night before or in the weeks
before that always actually really helps me feel more confident.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, saying it out loud, out.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Loud, and then the third thing that sounds a bit
counterinto you is just to call it out. So I
find when I am really really nervous if I start
by saying, guys, I'm really nervous here. This is not
my forte, but I really want to do a good job,
so please excuse the shakes. For some reason, getting it
out in the open, you stop feeling that you're chasing
(04:23):
your tail, like you're trying to look more confident than
you are. If you just kind of acknowledge it and
say this isn't my forte, but I'm doing my best. Yeah,
everyone in the audience will understand. No one is ever
not nervous, so everyone will understand that it gets it
out of the way. Then you kind of feel like
the fumbling. No one's staring at you, going, oh, she's
fumbling because they already know that you are. You've called
it out, you've had a laugh, and then you move on.
(04:45):
I find that really powerful.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Oh these are such good tips, and Casey, I feel
like my nervous ticks are very similar to yours. I
recently went on a live tour with our podcast Mummy
Out Loud, and we were talking in front of thousands
of people, and most people I've spoken in front of
was twenty, so I went from twenty two thousands and it.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Was so scary.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And one of my nervous sticks was similar to Casey,
where like my hands shake, especially when I'm holding notes.
So what I did, because all the other hosts would
have these palm cards and they would read of these
palm cards as guides every time in rehearsal I do that,
I would just uncontrollably shake. So I actually just memorized
my entire bit because I knew that was my nervous tick,
(05:26):
and I went out without holding anything and it worked
so well. So it is a lot more work you
have to do, but I felt like for me, knowing
that was my nervous tick, not having the palm cards
was a big blocker for me. So not having them
was just the best decision ever, and it just made
me look so much more relaxed than when I was
actually dying on the inside. Another little tip I have
(05:48):
was from these girls. They have a podcast called Interview Boss.
They're absolutely brilliant, and they say like, if you get
nervous in interviews and things like that, clench your butt
cheeks and you stop shaking. So if you go to
pick up a glass of water and you feel yourself
shaking picking up like glass of water, clench your butt cheeks.
It works every time.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
That is such a good one.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I actually saw this on your notes and I was like,
I don't know where this is going.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
But I love it, just me talking to myself in general.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Do you know what is one other one I just
thought of as well, which always helps me is that
there will always be no matter how big or small
your audience is. Some people have resting bitch face even
if they're really engaged, and some people have resting encouragement face,
And you'll know almost instantly the people who are going
to be warm and receptive to what you're saying openly,
(06:34):
like express it on their face. Go back to them.
Don't look at the people who look like they've tuned
out or that they're bored, because you'll start to spiral
and you'll think, oh my god, no one's listening. There's
always one person who smiles and nods at you, like
physically nods. Just find them and talk to just them,
and you'll block out everyone else, and that kind of
reinforces to you that people are listening, people are enjoying this,
(06:55):
and that helps quell those nerves. So I always have
like my yeah, secret friend in the audience who probably
don't know that they're holding me up or carrying me
as much as they are, But there's always one find them.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That's such a good point. Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Our next question is an anonymous one, which are always
the juiciest ones, and this person says, hey, biz team,
my performance review is in a few weeks and I'm
a bit worried. I work from home most days and
feel like my work is kind of invisible compared to
the office crowd. I've been doing fine, nothing terrible, but
nothing amazing. Either any quick wins or easy ways I
(07:30):
can show my value and stand out before my review,
especially when my boss can't actually see me working. This
is such an interesting question because when I was thinking
about it, I was like, surely that's not the case.
But then I talk to some friends, and I have
friends who are genuinely like my boss still expects everyone
to be in the office. Like my boss, no matter
(07:50):
how hard you work, my boss needs to see people
in the office. Sarah, what's been your experience with what
you've seen with work from home versus working in person
and seeing people work.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, it's such a fascinating question because I feel like
most people will either have all this colleagues working from
home so they don't have to prove their worth because
they're all doing the same thing, or they all work
in the office. So this is a really unique scenario
where you are competing with peers who have more FaceTime
than you, and they do have more opportunities to show
their worth. So it's a bit of a tough one
(08:22):
I think. In the end, I am so so pleased
that we have come a long way in proving that
you don't have to physically be there to have value
and to do valuable work. The problem is it is
going to be a little bit harder for you to
show that, And I think that does mean you have
to do a tiny bit more work to be out
of back yourself up. And so my advice in this
(08:43):
situation would be, so often we don't record what we
do during the day. As a lawyer, you don't have
that choice. We always had to record in six minute
increments every single task that you do during the day
to a client.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
That feels like a whole job in itself.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It is an entire job. So at the end of
the day you spend so many six minute units just
on working out what you did. But it's a really
good habit that I got into because now I have
a list at the end of every day of what
I worked on and how long I worked on it.
And I think tracking what you do so that when
you do have a performance review, you can show them
(09:19):
and say, these are the tangible things that I worked
on that you didn't see. Otherwise it just all blurs
into one big I was at home and sure we
finished the project, but your individual contribution to that project
or valuable things that you added to the conversations get
lost in the slack conversation or the email chain, so
write dot points through the day and then you've got
(09:42):
something actually tangible written down to present because you'll forget
it as well, like you won't remember what part of
that project was your contribution. So I think it really
is record keeping and then packaging it up in a
way that does show what your value is. Which is
unfair that you have to do more work than your colleagues,
but that's I think part of the challenge that we
still face. So don't disadvantage yourself by just not keeping
(10:05):
a rud.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
It's so true, and you also might find out that
you have been doing way more than what you thought,
Like I know sometimes when I work from home, because
no one can actually see me working, so you end
up just like even taking your phone to the bathroom,
like I've done that so many times because people can't
actually see you get up and go to the bathroom,
or see you get up and go to lunch, like
even those like little bits of like hey, just letting
(10:27):
everyone know I'm going for lunch. Now, hey letting everyone
know I'm back, Like you do do those extra things
that like people in the office don't have to do.
So keep that in mind, because you actually might be
doing more than you realize.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
One hundred percent. And if you've written it down, you
can also track sort of the hours that you've invested
as well. So if you want to be able to
say I spent twenty hours on this task, you can
back that up. Whereas if you're remembering it like two
weeks later and you haven't written anything down, it's really
hard to say, here is the time I spent on this.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Oh good luck with this performance review. We are sure
that you are going to absolutely smash it. Coming up next,
we have a juicy dilemma about how to deal with
overpowering co leagues. We have a question about a meeting
phenomenon that we've all definitely experienced. It's those voices in
(11:17):
those meetings that end up taking up all the oxygen
in the room. So Beck DMed us asking I need
some meeting advice. In our twice weekly team catch ups,
the same two colleagues dominate every discussion without fail. The
rest of us barely get a word in, and I've
noticed some really valuable team members haven't spoken up in weeks.
I'm not the meeting leader, just a regular participant, but
(11:40):
I'd love some suggestions for how to create space for
my quieter colleagues without making things awkward or seeming like
I'm trying to take over any subtle hints that can
actually work in real life. Ooh, this one's quite hard.
I feel like, personally, I haven't experienced this, And then
when I think about that, I'm like, oh my god,
was I the overbearing colleague that just took up.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
All the meetings?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I was just about to say, I also haven't, and
that's because you and I are the two people this.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Question was about. Ask who is it? We're sorry, so
it's a producer? So who wrote in?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I think that's what's really hard, though, is that sometimes
there are definitely dominant personalities in a workplace, but sometimes
it's just people who are chatty. Like You're not dominating
because you want to overpower your fellow colleagues who are quieter.
You just love a good chat and if you feel
like you've got something to contribute that's valuable. I will
genuinely keep talking until someone stops me, and I don't
(12:37):
mean to, you know, talk over people. And sometimes I've
realized this kind of made me take a cold houd
look at myself, like I might be cutting off other
valuable opinions simply because I find it easier to talk
in a group setting. So in this scenario, I sort
of thought, give them the benefit of the doubt that
they don't realize that they're doing it, and maybe create
(12:58):
an opportunity for them to realize that they are and
do something differently. And that might involve maybe your meeting
leader on board, if you're not the meeting leader, take
them aside and just mention that you've noticed this is happening,
and perhaps pitch it as I don't think they're doing
it on purpose, but perhaps we could sort of direct
(13:19):
questions to the quieter colleague, and instead of opening up
the floor, you could say, hey, so what do you
think about this? You could start the meeting by giving
that particular person a chance to speak, and do it
that way, like take a bit more control from the
top down. And that depends on your meeting leader, of course,
and how open they are to that. But I think
(13:40):
that's a really subtle way of doing it without anyone
feeling like you've had to have it out and you've
had to say, guys, shut up, like let the others speak.
I think that's a really gentle way of doing it.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah, I love that, and it also seems like me
So it's a consistent meeting they have. It's like a
twice weekly team catch up. So there's a reason you
have that meeting. And obviously it's not getting executed to
the best of its ability because so many people can't
actually tell the room what they're doing. So maybe even
just suggest to your team leader or to the whole
team in one of those meetings, say I think it'd
(14:10):
be more efficient if we just have some sort of
structure in place for this meeting and be like, let's
all just take two minutes each to say exactly what
we have going on, and then just kind of like
see if you can start with the quiet people so
they can get it over and done with, and then
the I guess the talk is the me and Sarah's
in your meeting can go last and we can just
like finish and then it's done.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
I'm like, give us a deadline, like, say, how about
one dot point from everything? Yes, and then we have
to I mean, I can make a really bloody long
dot point, but still like, at least if I have
some kind of delineation that it should be just one point,
like that'll rain me in a little bit. So maybe yeah,
put some limits.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
How to work with us?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, one oh one.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Well, that's all we have for this week. Thank you
so much for helping us clear the biz inbox. If
you've got a work question, send it our way. If
you have your own workplace drama, a career conundrum, or
office politics nightmare, we are here for it. Or we'll
put a link in our show notes for where you
can s admit all of those questions. You can also
have your name on this question, or you can be
completely anonymous if you'd rather know one find out who
(15:12):
you are. We completely get it.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
If you've missed any of our previous episodes, they're all
right there in your feed waiting for you, and we'll
be back solving more workplace conundrums next week.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Bye see ya.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Mamma Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on
You're listening to Amma mea podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello, and welcome to biz Inbox. I'm m Vernon and
you just stepped into your judgment free zone for all
things career related.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
And I'm Sarah Davidson, a lawyer turned entrepreneur, ready to
get real about workplace challenges and dive into some workplace
real talk.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I am so excited.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Think of these biz Inbox episodes as your career confessional booth.
You can be completely anonymous if you're struggling with office politics,
building a business, dealing with a boss from hell, whatever
it is.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
We are all is.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Today we're chatting about those colleagues who treat meetings like
their very own ted talk me sorry to everyone, and
proving your worth to your boss from your home office.
But let's start off with a question we got in
that's something that I think everyone on earth can relate to. Really,
why public speaking is absolutely terrifying?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Oh my god, this question tackles the number one workplace fear.
And no, it's not accidentally replying all, which I have
done more times than i'd like to admit.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
This comes in from.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Casey and she wrote, I'm presenting to senior leadership tomorrow
and I'm incredibly nervous. My voice tends to shake and
I lose my train of thought when anxious. I've tried
using voice notes to keep me on track, but then
my shaking hands become even more obvious as I'm fumbling
with paper. It's like my body is determined to expose
(01:45):
my nerves one way or another. What techniques do you
recommend for staying composed during high pressure conversations? Any tips
would be so appreciated, Sarah, you do a lot of
public speaking and a lot of presenting, like I feel
like you are perfect to answer this question.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Oh my gosh, well it's such a valid one, Casey,
I feel like a lot of people. I can't remember
what the statistic is, but a lot of people are
more scared of public speaking than they are of like death.
Like it's people's number one fear worldwide. Such anxiety inducing
activity for so many, And I guess one of the
(02:23):
first things is be gentle on yourself. Nerves are so normal.
Even after I would say probably more than a thousand
speaking gigs, I still get nervous. So the goal is
not for the nerves to disappear completely. So that's one
thing we all get nerves. It's a really good sign
that you care about the outcome, that you care about
doing a good job. It's just about, like you said,
(02:44):
learning how to not let them totally overtake you. And
there's a couple of things that really help with that.
I think the first is practice. It definitely gets easier
over time. So when I look at my first speaking
gigs when I was, like, you know, really young, in
my early twenties versus now, the comfort level is dramatically different,
and that just comes with practice.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
But there are so.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Many little things that you can do in the lead
up that can sort of reduce the capacity of those
nerves to overcome you. So deep breathing is a really
big thing just beforehand, because your heart rate getting away
from itself is part of the thing that makes you shake.
It's the thing that makes your brain so flighty that
you lose train of thought. So big deep breast beforehand.
(03:26):
There's a lot of psychology around the poses that you
stand in beforehand while you're doing that breathing to kind
of instill a bit more confidence in you, sort of
instead of shrinking away and having your shoulders round it,
it's put your shoulders back so that you can get
as much air into your body as you can. Practicing
parts of your speech in advance so that if you
do lose your train of thought, you've got muscle memory.
(03:47):
Even just the intro. I feel like if you deliver
that confidently, that helps carry you through the next bit.
So I know it sounds silly, but doing your speech
to your mirror the night before or in the weeks
before that always actually really helps me feel more confident.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, saying it out loud, out.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Loud, and then the third thing that sounds a bit
counterinto you is just to call it out. So I
find when I am really really nervous if I start
by saying, guys, I'm really nervous here. This is not
my forte, but I really want to do a good job,
so please excuse the shakes. For some reason, getting it
out in the open, you stop feeling that you're chasing
(04:23):
your tail, like you're trying to look more confident than
you are. If you just kind of acknowledge it and
say this isn't my forte, but I'm doing my best. Yeah,
everyone in the audience will understand. No one is ever
not nervous, so everyone will understand that it gets it
out of the way. Then you kind of feel like
the fumbling. No one's staring at you, going, oh, she's
fumbling because they already know that you are. You've called
it out, you've had a laugh, and then you move on.
(04:45):
I find that really powerful.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Oh these are such good tips, and Casey, I feel
like my nervous ticks are very similar to yours. I
recently went on a live tour with our podcast Mummy
Out Loud, and we were talking in front of thousands
of people, and most people I've spoken in front of
was twenty, so I went from twenty two thousands and it.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Was so scary.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
And one of my nervous sticks was similar to Casey,
where like my hands shake, especially when I'm holding notes.
So what I did, because all the other hosts would
have these palm cards and they would read of these
palm cards as guides every time in rehearsal I do that,
I would just uncontrollably shake. So I actually just memorized
my entire bit because I knew that was my nervous tick,
(05:26):
and I went out without holding anything and it worked
so well. So it is a lot more work you
have to do, but I felt like for me, knowing
that was my nervous tick, not having the palm cards
was a big blocker for me. So not having them
was just the best decision ever, and it just made
me look so much more relaxed than when I was
actually dying on the inside. Another little tip I have
(05:48):
was from these girls. They have a podcast called Interview Boss.
They're absolutely brilliant, and they say like, if you get
nervous in interviews and things like that, clench your butt
cheeks and you stop shaking. So if you go to
pick up a glass of water and you feel yourself
shaking picking up like glass of water, clench your butt cheeks.
It works every time.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
That is such a good one.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I actually saw this on your notes and I was like,
I don't know where this is going.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
But I love it, just me talking to myself in general.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Do you know what is one other one I just
thought of as well, which always helps me is that
there will always be no matter how big or small
your audience is. Some people have resting bitch face even
if they're really engaged, and some people have resting encouragement face,
And you'll know almost instantly the people who are going
to be warm and receptive to what you're saying openly,
(06:34):
like express it on their face. Go back to them.
Don't look at the people who look like they've tuned
out or that they're bored, because you'll start to spiral
and you'll think, oh my god, no one's listening. There's
always one person who smiles and nods at you, like
physically nods. Just find them and talk to just them,
and you'll block out everyone else, and that kind of
reinforces to you that people are listening, people are enjoying this,
(06:55):
and that helps quell those nerves. So I always have
like my yeah, secret friend in the audience who probably
don't know that they're holding me up or carrying me
as much as they are, But there's always one find them.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
That's such a good point. Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Our next question is an anonymous one, which are always
the juiciest ones, and this person says, hey, biz team,
my performance review is in a few weeks and I'm
a bit worried. I work from home most days and
feel like my work is kind of invisible compared to
the office crowd. I've been doing fine, nothing terrible, but
nothing amazing. Either any quick wins or easy ways I
(07:30):
can show my value and stand out before my review,
especially when my boss can't actually see me working. This
is such an interesting question because when I was thinking
about it, I was like, surely that's not the case.
But then I talk to some friends, and I have
friends who are genuinely like my boss still expects everyone
to be in the office. Like my boss, no matter
(07:50):
how hard you work, my boss needs to see people
in the office. Sarah, what's been your experience with what
you've seen with work from home versus working in person
and seeing people work.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, it's such a fascinating question because I feel like
most people will either have all this colleagues working from
home so they don't have to prove their worth because
they're all doing the same thing, or they all work
in the office. So this is a really unique scenario
where you are competing with peers who have more FaceTime
than you, and they do have more opportunities to show
their worth. So it's a bit of a tough one
(08:22):
I think. In the end, I am so so pleased
that we have come a long way in proving that
you don't have to physically be there to have value
and to do valuable work. The problem is it is
going to be a little bit harder for you to
show that, And I think that does mean you have
to do a tiny bit more work to be out
of back yourself up. And so my advice in this
(08:43):
situation would be, so often we don't record what we
do during the day. As a lawyer, you don't have
that choice. We always had to record in six minute
increments every single task that you do during the day
to a client.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
That feels like a whole job in itself.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It is an entire job. So at the end of
the day you spend so many six minute units just
on working out what you did. But it's a really
good habit that I got into because now I have
a list at the end of every day of what
I worked on and how long I worked on it.
And I think tracking what you do so that when
you do have a performance review, you can show them
(09:19):
and say, these are the tangible things that I worked
on that you didn't see. Otherwise it just all blurs
into one big I was at home and sure we
finished the project, but your individual contribution to that project
or valuable things that you added to the conversations get
lost in the slack conversation or the email chain, so
write dot points through the day and then you've got
(09:42):
something actually tangible written down to present because you'll forget
it as well, like you won't remember what part of
that project was your contribution. So I think it really
is record keeping and then packaging it up in a
way that does show what your value is. Which is
unfair that you have to do more work than your colleagues,
but that's I think part of the challenge that we
still face. So don't disadvantage yourself by just not keeping
(10:05):
a rud.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
It's so true, and you also might find out that
you have been doing way more than what you thought,
Like I know sometimes when I work from home, because
no one can actually see me working, so you end
up just like even taking your phone to the bathroom,
like I've done that so many times because people can't
actually see you get up and go to the bathroom,
or see you get up and go to lunch, like
even those like little bits of like hey, just letting
(10:27):
everyone know I'm going for lunch. Now, hey letting everyone
know I'm back, Like you do do those extra things
that like people in the office don't have to do.
So keep that in mind, because you actually might be
doing more than you realize.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
One hundred percent. And if you've written it down, you
can also track sort of the hours that you've invested
as well. So if you want to be able to
say I spent twenty hours on this task, you can
back that up. Whereas if you're remembering it like two
weeks later and you haven't written anything down, it's really
hard to say, here is the time I spent on this.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Oh good luck with this performance review. We are sure
that you are going to absolutely smash it. Coming up next,
we have a juicy dilemma about how to deal with
overpowering co leagues. We have a question about a meeting
phenomenon that we've all definitely experienced. It's those voices in
(11:17):
those meetings that end up taking up all the oxygen
in the room. So Beck DMed us asking I need
some meeting advice. In our twice weekly team catch ups,
the same two colleagues dominate every discussion without fail. The
rest of us barely get a word in, and I've
noticed some really valuable team members haven't spoken up in weeks.
I'm not the meeting leader, just a regular participant, but
(11:40):
I'd love some suggestions for how to create space for
my quieter colleagues without making things awkward or seeming like
I'm trying to take over any subtle hints that can
actually work in real life. Ooh, this one's quite hard.
I feel like, personally, I haven't experienced this, And then
when I think about that, I'm like, oh my god,
was I the overbearing colleague that just took up.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
All the meetings?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I was just about to say, I also haven't, and
that's because you and I are the two people this.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Question was about. Ask who is it? We're sorry, so
it's a producer? So who wrote in?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I think that's what's really hard, though, is that sometimes
there are definitely dominant personalities in a workplace, but sometimes
it's just people who are chatty. Like You're not dominating
because you want to overpower your fellow colleagues who are quieter.
You just love a good chat and if you feel
like you've got something to contribute that's valuable. I will
genuinely keep talking until someone stops me, and I don't
(12:37):
mean to, you know, talk over people. And sometimes I've
realized this kind of made me take a cold houd
look at myself, like I might be cutting off other
valuable opinions simply because I find it easier to talk
in a group setting. So in this scenario, I sort
of thought, give them the benefit of the doubt that
they don't realize that they're doing it, and maybe create
(12:58):
an opportunity for them to realize that they are and
do something differently. And that might involve maybe your meeting
leader on board, if you're not the meeting leader, take
them aside and just mention that you've noticed this is happening,
and perhaps pitch it as I don't think they're doing
it on purpose, but perhaps we could sort of direct
(13:19):
questions to the quieter colleague, and instead of opening up
the floor, you could say, hey, so what do you
think about this? You could start the meeting by giving
that particular person a chance to speak, and do it
that way, like take a bit more control from the
top down. And that depends on your meeting leader, of course,
and how open they are to that. But I think
(13:40):
that's a really subtle way of doing it without anyone
feeling like you've had to have it out and you've
had to say, guys, shut up, like let the others speak.
I think that's a really gentle way of doing it.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah, I love that, and it also seems like me
So it's a consistent meeting they have. It's like a
twice weekly team catch up. So there's a reason you
have that meeting. And obviously it's not getting executed to
the best of its ability because so many people can't
actually tell the room what they're doing. So maybe even
just suggest to your team leader or to the whole
team in one of those meetings, say I think it'd
(14:10):
be more efficient if we just have some sort of
structure in place for this meeting and be like, let's
all just take two minutes each to say exactly what
we have going on, and then just kind of like
see if you can start with the quiet people so
they can get it over and done with, and then
the I guess the talk is the me and Sarah's
in your meeting can go last and we can just
like finish and then it's done.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
I'm like, give us a deadline, like, say, how about
one dot point from everything? Yes, and then we have
to I mean, I can make a really bloody long
dot point, but still like, at least if I have
some kind of delineation that it should be just one point,
like that'll rain me in a little bit. So maybe yeah,
put some limits.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
How to work with us?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, one oh one.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Well, that's all we have for this week. Thank you
so much for helping us clear the biz inbox. If
you've got a work question, send it our way. If
you have your own workplace drama, a career conundrum, or
office politics nightmare, we are here for it. Or we'll
put a link in our show notes for where you
can s admit all of those questions. You can also
have your name on this question, or you can be
completely anonymous if you'd rather know one find out who
(15:12):
you are. We completely get it.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
If you've missed any of our previous episodes, they're all
right there in your feed waiting for you, and we'll
be back solving more workplace conundrums next week.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Bye see ya.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Mamma Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on
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