Time & FocusEasy
The Off-Topic Drift
When This Happens
The conversation has wandered far from the agenda topic and is now exploring tangential territory.
How To Do It — Parking Lot Redirect
- 1.Acknowledge that the tangent is interesting and potentially valuable.
- 2.Capture it visibly on a "parking lot" board or document.
- 3.Explicitly redirect back to the current agenda item.
- 4.Commit to reviewing the parking lot at the end of the session.
What To Say
That's a really important point, and I don't want to lose it. Let me add it to our parking lot [write it down visibly]. For now, I want to bring us back to [agenda topic] because we have [X minutes] left for it. We'll circle back to the parking lot before we close.
Pro Tip
A visible parking lot (whiteboard, shared doc) is essential. If people don't see their idea captured, they'll keep bringing it up.
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