The Lost Art of Productive Meetings
When was the last time you attended a meeting that was worth your time and accomplished something?
Most people would probably say, ‘it’s been a while’ or even ‘you must believe in unicorns if you think there is such a thing as a worthwhile meeting!’
One company I am familiar with, had a culture of scheduling meetings where each functional team would be represented by no less than three layers of management! It was a very low trust environment!
Think of the cost involved! Not only were they chewing up very expensive time, they were also unlikely to reach the best answer due to the unnecessary presence of intimidating figures. Those with the best knowledge of the problem would be silent during the meetings! Often, there would be only vague direction achieved and then there would need to be ‘the meetings after the meeting’ for people to figure out what to do!
Worse yet were the occasions where these large meetings led to a lot of unnecessary work or delays in truly needed actions. People frequently were frustrated, turn-over was high, and trust continued to erode – increasing cost!
I’m sure most people have similar horror stories of ineffective meetings!
Following simple guidelines, whether a meeting is virtual or live, can prevent these nightmare scenarios and help establish a better organizational culture!
Before You Schedule a Meeting
Contemplating a meeting? Before the meeting is even scheduled consider the following;
Question whether you need to have a meeting at all. What will be the likely outcome if this meeting isn’t held? Many meetings are a waste of time and can be cancelled without real business consequences. Is there a more cost-effective way to reach that outcome? Should this topic be handled with an email?
Reduce the attendee list to only those who are really needed. Meetings are costly when you consider the salaries of all those in attendance. Increase your efficiency by letting those who aren’t needed in the meeting, go do something else.
Reduce the amount of time for the meeting. Just because your Outlook calendar defaults to one-hour blocks of time, doesn’t mean that every meeting should take an hour. Most meetings probably should not exceed 15-30 minutes.
Consider where this meeting will take place. Should there be chairs or will that unnecessarily lengthen the meeting?
Prepare for a Successful Meeting!
Once you determine a meeting must be held and have whittled down the time and attendees required, consider what is needed for participants to show up prepared!
Prepare an agenda outlining clearly the objective of the meeting and an outline of the topics.
Publish the agenda far enough ahead of time that attendees have adequate time to prepare. Don’t be that jerk who calls a meeting 2-weeks ahead of time and then publishes an agenda and slide-templates the day before - after everyone has already prepared what they guessed would be needed!
Clearly outline what each participant will need to do to prepare for the meeting. If a slide-template is required (eye-rolling emoji!), then send it WITH THE AGENDA! - so no one wastes valuable time!
Consider pre-assigning roles for the meeting. Have those roles clearly indicated in the agenda. A colleague recently described to me the roles that he had started pre-assigning for meetings. Consider doing something similar. His roles were: Organizer, Presenter, Recorder, Devil’s Advocate, Time Keeper, Facilitator, and Team Builder.
Make sure the meeting logistics and expectations are clear in the agenda for presenters – to avoid the embarrassment of the “Are you going to present, or am I?” moments.
Early during the pandemic, when so many events moved from live to virtual, it seemed the first 15 minutes of every meeting was spent getting the technology to work. Avoid, or reduce the likelihood of hearing “Can anyone hear me?” “Can everyone see my screen?” “Is this thing working?” Do what you can, particularly for larger group meetings, like townhalls, to test the setup beforehand to avoid wasting time getting stuff to work.
Meeting Norms
Once the meeting time comes and the team is gathered, how the meeting is conducted will do a lot to reinforce the organizational culture – so be deliberate!
Respect everyone’s time by starting on-time. Every minute the meeting is late starting adds up in cost. Make a point of starting on time. Make sure attendees understand that you will start on time and that you expect them to be on time, out of respect for the team. Send a reminder the day before if needed. If someone is chronically late to meetings, handle it as an individual performance issue – do not just let it keep happening!
What happens in Vegas needs to stay in Vegas! If the meeting needs to be considered confidential – clearly state that at the start and again at the end of the meeting. Do not assume that people understand what must be held in confidence.
If the meeting will be recorded for use later, clearly state that at the beginning, BEFORE turning on the recorder! Explain why the meeting will be recorded. If you expect that someone may object, then handle this BEFORE the meeting starts by making it clear in the meeting invite.
Insist on FOCUS from the team. Set the ground rules for participation. Outlaw multi-tasking! Should computers and phones be banned from the meeting place?
Establish and follow respectful communication etiquette. For example, participants should allow one person speaking at a time and there should only be one conversation happening!
Once the meeting starts, stick to the agenda. Facilitate the discussion to ensure the required topics are covered, decisions are made, and the timeline adhered to. Preassigned roles will clearly help with this!
As an inclusive leader with a participative leadership style, ensure that all voices are heard, before indicating your opinion. This will increase the likelihood that team members will render their true opinions and that the group will reach the best conclusions. Hint: consider what your nonverbal language is revealing about your opinions! Resist the temptation to nod in agreement, or frown in disagreement!
Record action items! Far too many meetings with great discussions are a total waste of time because no action items are agreed to, or no-one records the action items that are agreed. Who, what, by when, how – these all need to be recorded!
Review the action list as the final step of the meeting so that everyone is aware and in agreement to the actions they must execute.
Send out meeting notes and action lists promptly after the meeting!
Consider asking for feedback ideas to improve the next meeting.
Special Rules for Virtual Meetings
Virtual meetings present additional challenges. If the pandemic taught us one thing, it was that many meetings could be held remotely, reducing travel costs, and increasing efficiency. Unfortunately, many people learned some very bad habits for virtual meetings.
Avoiding multitasking syndrome is the biggest hurdle for virtual meetings. How often have you heard a delay when someone was asked a direct question – and likely they then asked for the question to be repeated? Caught in the act of multi-tasking! Make note of these infractions and discuss them off-line later, one-on-one. Whether they report to you or not they need the feedback, and you, as a leader, owe the organization to give that feedback in a constructive manner! If it happens often, this is a performance issue and must be handled as such!
In live meetings, it’s easy to tell attendees to shut-off their phones and computers to keep the group focused on the agenda. In virtual meetings, it’s a challenge. Here are some tips;
MAKE SURE YOU SET THE PROPER EXAMPLE! People will watch and emulate your example – good or bad! Remember that the behavior you promote, and the behavior that you tolerate, will establish the workplace culture!
Insist on cameras being on. It’s tougher to screw off when you know the team is watching!
Even with cameras on, some people will feel entitled to multitask during meetings. Make sure everyone understands the expectation of participation. I suggest that no one be allowed to text during meetings unless it is to the meeting chat log. During live meetings you wouldn’t allow people to doodle on their phones, texting others – why should it be tolerated during virtual meetings?
If you think someone isn’t paying attention, call on them and ask them a question or their opinion. Do it as often as needed to make your point that participation is expected.
Conclusion
Worthwhile meetings do not have to be as rare as unicorns! Conducting productive meetings is merely a lost art. Following the guidance above will ensure that your meetings are value added! By setting the right example and setting clear expectations for meetings, you will be positively changing workplace culture!
