I recently exited a meeting where a question was raised that I don't know the answer to, so I'm asking all of you (and fighting the urge to tirade about it myself). When you walk into a staff meeting with say 25 people in attendance, should you be expected to greet every one of them, or is it acceptable to just sit down and wait for the meeting to begin, talking only to the people in your general vacinity? Discuss.
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7 comments:
Clearly, you're not expected to acknowledge every one of them by name. However, a general greeting like "Good morning all" or " Hi friends" or "Well, here we are again, I guess it must be fate" (the last one meant to be sung) is appropriate. When people walk in to work and just sit down and don't acknowledge their co-workers, I'm like "What's their damage?" Know what I mean? It's polite to acknowledge those around you.
I'm with Nate.
Without reading the above comments, I want to say, there is no way you could possibly greet all 20 plus attendees. It would be an akward scene out of a movie. When you walk in, you could greet the room with a nod and a smile, then speak to those around you. Also, if there are people in the meeting whom you do not know, I would wait until the introductions by the moderater/leader of the meeting before introducing myself to people across the room.
I can see where the story behind this question is going and can't wait to hear the details.
Now that I have read Nathan's comment and see that Joe is in agreement I would also like to say that if people are talking amongst themselves, it would be weird to address the entire room verbally when you enter. If people are looking at you then maybe. I think it depends on the situation, but more often than not, I wouldn't say anything.
Ummm...the thought of entering a room of 25 people in it is vaguely terrifying to me. I suppose if (horrors) when I entered they all looked up at me I would feel compelled to say something clever (Nate in the event of this nightmre I will certainly be singing your line, assuming that my brain hasn't frozen in terror and my mouth is glued shut in panic). Otherwise, the plan is to slink in quietly and sit next to someone known to me.
Ugh! I'm having flashbacks to my entrance into 8th grade Civics course in a brand-new junior high school!
Well, since it's New York and not Mexico, I think that you're culturally spared from greeting each person personally. (Perhaps business settings are different here, but family/friend gatherings almost always mean greeting every single person, one by one).
So I also concur with Nate. General greetings are both friendly and quick, and I think the best thing to do.
Thank you for your comments. You have confirmed both my argument and my sanity.
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