Am I being overly sensitive, or was this rude behavior?

[columbia1]

I was recently in a meeting with a few other people. We were brainstorming, so one person was typing while the rest of us were talking - basically they were the recorder. Anyway, instead of focusing on the brainstorming, some of the participants were focusing on the spelling/grammar errors that the recorder had made while recording. If that had been the focus of what we were doing, I would have been fine with the corrections being made. However, our focus was supposed to be brainstorming, and I felt it rude that so many people were harping on their errors instead.

 

Am I being overly sensitive, or is this rude to point out?

[Col1]

Those employees nit-picking the spelling and grammar of the recorder were rude. Sounds like one of those CareerBuilder ads with a bunch of chimps as co-workers. Yikes!

[Taramere]

I don't think you were being overly sensitive. They were being crass and petty. Typos are common when people are having to take ideas down quickly, and can be easily corrected. The nit-picking you describe sounds like the sort that inhibits creative brainstorming, but if you were to express it in those terms that would just worsen matters and lead the team even further away from productive brainstorming.

 

I'd say something like "we can surely sort typos out later. It would be a pity to waste brainstorming time proof-reading rather than thinking creatively." That's a fairly non confrontational - but even that, in a roomful of critics, will be taken as overtly threatening. Perpetual critics are often very introverted and despite their tendency to nitpick and find fault with others, extremely thin skinned when it comes to anybody questioning them. The best way to deal with them, if you're not in charge (and therefore can't sack them) is to keep giving them space and opportunities to be themselves. Sooner or later they'll get taken to task for it.

 

People are who you are. You can't change a perpetual critic and nitpicker, but you can develop resilience to their negativity that will minimise its impact.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I was recently in a meeting with a few other people. We were brainstorming, so one person was typing while the rest of us were talking - basically they were the recorder. Anyway, instead of focusing on the brainstorming, some of the participants were focusing on the spelling/grammar errors that the recorder had made while recording. If that had been the focus of what we were doing, I would have been fine with the corrections being made. However, our focus was supposed to be brainstorming, and I felt it rude that so many people were harping on their errors instead.

 

Am I being overly sensitive, or is this rude to point out?

 

IF it was really necessary, they could have edited it later. Sounded like they didn't really want to brainstorm.