Hey, you, sitting there wanting to trade your halo for some devilish horns, have you ever wanted to choke progress, maim effectiveness, and kill morale in a group or business meeting? If you have, this list is for you! ...

If you are like most people who are interested in progress, you may simply be doing these things without noticing it, and through a few simple changes you can help your organization to move forward by demonstrating a positive & interested spirit. Believe it or not, your revealed interest can have a big impact on budget and planning dollars, along with project success.

Here's a brief list for your consideration:

• Scrolling through your Facebook and other social networks
• Answering emails not related to the meeting
• Texting others (either inside or outside the room) to handle issues and matters not related to the meeting
• Laughing and/or making facial reactions while interacting with your social media, emails, and text messages
• Arriving late
• The big drawn out yawn
• Leaving your mobile device's ringer on
• Allowing your mobile device to ring (or vibrate) beyond the first or second ring - even better when it's laying on the table to achieve a fuller sound.
• Taking an outside call
• Taking an outside call and sharing the conversation with everyone else in the room
• Taking an outside call, starting the conversation, leaving the room, and not returning to the meeting in a timely manner
• Telling stories that are off-topic
• Starting and/or joining side conversations
• Rolling your eyes at creative ideas
• Shooting down ideas in a brainstorming session
• Taking offense when your idea doesn't appear to be accepted
• Asking a question regarding an item that was very clearly handled just minutes prior to your question
• Asking a question regarding an item that you would have heard if you arrived on time
• Agreeing to a plan of action in one meeting, then attacking the same plan in a following meeting
• Imposing your opinion over everyone else's - throwing your weight to steer the way you think things should go
• Asking everyone else's opinion when you already have your mind made up - it'll be really clear to them later
• Writing and/or signing correspondence - the bigger the stack the better
• After performing a mix of any of the above, getting up and leaving early

There you go, a nice little check list of actions you can take to negatively impact your next meeting. Feel free to share how you have seen these used or if you have any others that could be added to the list that flatten the wheel of progress. Mwwaahahaha!