The Person Who Always Agrees in Meetings
Created by Gemini
My boss has about 20 people reporting to him. Because there are so many of us, he tries to concentrate everyone’s 1:1s (one-on-one status reports with the boss) into one or two days each week. He reserves a meeting room and camps out there for the entire day, waiting for us to arrive. When our assigned time arrives, we go into the meeting room, exchange pleasantries with the boss for 10 to 15 minutes, and then the next person checks in. This ritual happens once a week.
Half of the 20 people are actually in Cambridge, near Boston, one is in New York, and two are working remotely from home. Therefore, not everyone can attend this 1:1 ritual in person. Some colleagues I’ve never seen in person, and they only appear in the small window during online meetings. I can only guess their height, weight, and build from their faces. If you told me they were in wheelchairs or had no lower body, I wouldn’t be too surprised.
I had a great impression of one colleague from Cambridge. When I had meetings with him, I always felt like we were on the same wavelength and had the same opinions. When I present, he would always nod silently, indicating his agreement. Although he was remote and it was difficult for people in the meeting room to see his small window, let alone his subtle body language, he always expressed his opinions generously. I was very grateful for his affirmation.
After a few meetings with him, I realized something was off. I noticed that he nodded frequently to everyone’s remarks. Before, when others spoke, I always focused on the speaker and didn’t pay attention to other people’s small windows. Once I paid attention to him, it was obvious that not only did he nod to everyone’s remarks, but he also nodded when no one was speaking! Then I realized he wasn’t nodding at all—he was shaking his leg, and he was shaking it so hard that his whole body was trembling.
Although it was a misunderstanding and he wasn’t agreeing with my opinions, I had a very good impression of him because of his nodding affirmation. So, I learned from this beautiful mistake that, to make a good impression on others, whenever I agree with or even just understand what the presenter is saying, I will nod or shake my leg to indicate that I have visibly received and agree with the presentation, and a thumbs up is well deserved!