There is always one Distractor. Sometimes they are the “what if” question-asker. The person in the room who believes it is their role to bring up a “smart” question that challenges the project team. Their comment may start off with “I don’t want to take us down a rabbit hole, but…”  You know who I’m talking about.

As the project leader, this has often happened just as the project team was on a roll. Everyone understood the goal and were on track to deliver. We were just turning the corner on Norming in Tuckman’s stages of group development and then…this happens….

The Distractor throws that “what if” wrench. The room is dead silent. Everyone’s eyes are on you to see how you are going to react. Somehow, you feel the brewing chaos in the still of the room.

Do not engage.

This is where you earn your project management stripes.

Before we get into how to handle this scenarios let’s first discuss what not to do. Assuming you have an ok relationship with this person (translation – they are not your nemesis), do not go on a combative tirade as to why the project team should or should not do what they say. I repeat – do not engage.  If you allow the Distractor to dominate your meetings, you could unravel all of the work you have done to build the team.

1.) Understand The Distractor’s motivation. Take the note during the meeting and follow up with The Distractor. Coffee or something informal usually works best. Make sure to address their concern, but also ask questions to understand their motivations.

Some possible motivations are:

• The Distractor may be getting pressure from their Leadership. This gives you a clue into their assessment of the project and opens a window for you to engage that stakeholder group in a more meaningful way.
• The Distractor may just be asking to be engaged. I have been on a lot of project teams with super smart people and sometimes they just want to be heard. Follow up with an individual coffee and make an effort to engage this person more in future meetings.
• My favorite is the Risk Averse Distractor. As project managers, we know we need to create and maintain a risk assessment. But how many of us really do? I’m not going to speak for you, but most of the projects I led did not have a risk assessment until we began tracking our first issue. The Risk Averse Distractor forces the project team to take a look at the risks facing the project, assess the probability and severity, and agree on a mitigation strategy.

2.) Use The Distractor for good, not evil. Pull out every tool that you have in your toolbox to engage this stakeholder. Influence. Servant leadership. Whatever it takes. But most of all, use their voice to advance the project. Leverage The Distractor to ensure that risk assessment is complete. Call on The Distractor when the project team has agreed testing is completed, but The Distractor still has concerns that the functionality will not handle all scenarios.

In most cases, The Distractor who is at least minimally engaged is more than willing to help ensure the project’s success. Those Distractors whose sole intent is to derail meetings will eventually stop attending your project meetings and will take their disruptions to another project meeting. I just hope those project managers have read this post, too.

See below for how this could play out in a project meeting:

Distractor: We need to understand the purpose and objectives of the project.

Rockstar PM: Thank you for the suggestion. Great contribution. Our intention was that the charter and project kickoff included information about the project goals and objectives. Could you provide some additional clarification in your request?

This initial question will help you understand the distractor’s motivation.

Distractor : I missed the kickoff meeting. I think what I’m looking for is how the project relates to the organization’s strategy.

Ok. This Distractor is not engaged and will not effectively lead his team. You need to resolve this. Offline.

Rockstar PM: Ah, yes. I think that would be very valuable and would like to talk to you more about how we can incorporate that. Let’s set up some time after this meeting to discuss.

And… scene.

Let me know what you think. How do you handle Distractors? What other types of stakeholders have you encountered?