“We used to make things. Now we have meetings.”
So said James Surowiecki in an Economist article titled, “Why Satan should chair your meetings”.
He has a point.
In a recent workshop, one of the managers told me her calendar looked like Swiss Cheese, so many meetings did she have.
We then workshopped best practice when it comes to handling all the meetings you’ll typically have, when managing or leading a team. You need good ideas and strategies for reducing the amount (and duration) of meetings. Smiles reinstated, all round.
It’s actually fairly easy to run an effective meeting. Just google “How to maximise the value of workplace meetings” (please note my deliberate use of corporate-speak there) and the usual tips and traps will crop up. You know the drill:
👉 Prepare Well – Gotta have an agenda*. Send out any pre-reading beforehand. When people turn up, some will lie about having done the pre-reading. Ask them detailed questions about it. That can be fun.
👉 Stay On Track – Stick to the agenda and keep an eye on the clock. Let’s see how good a chairperson you really are, when Bob wants to discuss the lack of almond milk in the fridge.
👉 Get Involved – Encourage everyone to contribute (mostly for smaller groups). You’ll get the standard hiders. Plus one person who never shuts up.
👉 Take Action – Have clear action items. Plus deadlines. Everyone loves a deadline. Except when it applies to them.
* Your agenda doesn’t always have to be written, by the way. I disagree with the oodles of articles telling us it does. The agenda can be in your head. But you need to state it out-loud at the beginning of the meeting, and scribble it on the whiteboard if that’s your jam.
You can choose to remember all of these points or, as I shared with the workshop participants, simply adopt my favourite sentence whenever I turn up to a meeting:
⚡ WHY AM I HERE?
(Please note: my use of capitals doesn’t mean I’m shouting. Some people might read it that way; it’s not how it’s written. I’ve used caps merely to highlight this sentence in the overall post. LinkedIn won’t let me used Bold or Italics. Or, I’m too dumb to work out how to use them here.)
It’s a sentence I’ve enjoyed saying for decades. Or a slight variation of it e.g. Why are WE here? Why are YOU here? You get the gist.
Good managers use this sentence to get real clarity, purpose and focus. It ensures you’re not wasting your time (or that of others in the room). Even better, ask it well beforehand to work out if the meeting should exist at all. But if there’s a genuine need to get together, it forms a fabulous foundation for everything that follows. Keep coming back to it if things are going off track. Wrap things up by asking if the meeting has answered the question. If not, what were you all doing? Did Bob take over?
Worthwhile meetings are rare. Pointless meetings are everywhere.
It’s time to redress the balance.
👇
** Want me to come to your place of work and give a talk on leadership, run a Lunch & Learn session, or train your team? Just click on our Contact Page and send a message to enquire. **
