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Fewer, Shorter Meetings

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: Wouldn\'t you love to have fewer, shorter meetings? For most of us, meetings are the most frustrating parts of our working life. How come we don\\\'t take the initiative and manage them better? The ideas are simple.

Fewer, Shorter Meetings

The ruling paradigm on meetings is that they should be scheduled for one hour. If a manager sends a note to her administrative assistant to schedule a meeting sometime this week, the assistant will instinctively assume the duration is one hour. We come by this paradigm through convention, and it is an opportunity to challenge the status quo. Suppose the administrative person scheduled the meeting for 40 minutes. What would be the outcome? In most organizations it would mean that everyone invited to the meeting saved at least 20 minutes. As a side benefit, the 40 minutes spent at the meeting would be far more productive because the standard paradigm has been broken.

Start by challenging the need for a meeting at all. This is especially true for \\\"standing meetings\\\" (by this I mean the kind that happen automatically each week, not the kind where there are no chairs in the room - BTW, no chairs is a great way to encourage shorter meetings). Since standing meetings often do not have a specific agenda, they frequently degrade into \\\"group grope\\\" sessions.

There are numerous things that can be done to improve the time utilization at meetings, Here are nine of my favorite techniques;

1. Suggest that the person leading the meeting be extremely mindful of the duration. After all, what we have at work is our time.
2. Have a meeting agenda and stick to it unless the group makes a conscious decision to adjust priorities.
3. Shock people into a realization of what is actually happening: Set up the meeting to start at 2:17 pm and end at 2:49 pm. That would be a 33 minute meeting (if my math is correct).
4. Put a premium on how the time is spent in meetings. Make sure the agenda is specific as to how much time will be devoted to each topic and stick to that schedule. Have a PITA assigned to keep things on track (PITA stands for Pain In The Rear).
5. Acknowledge the need for important side issues, but do not let them derail the meeting. Handle them efficiently or find another venue to deal with them.
6. Start and end each meeting on time. Become known as a stickler for this. You can be courteous and bring stragglers up to speed on what has already been accomplished, but you are really enabling them to continue the practice. It is not polite to others to arrive late for meetings. It is also not polite to attendees for the leader to extend beyond the advertised finish time.
7. Have a set of expected behaviors for your meetings and post them. Hold each other accountable for abiding by these rules. Here is a favorite rule of mine. It is expected that when someone feels we are spinning our wheels or not making the best use of time, he or she will give the \\\"time out\\\" signal to the person running the meeting (finger tips of one hand touching the palm of the other hand). Nobody will be punished in any way for making this sign. It simply calls the question as to whether we are spending our time wisely right now.
8. Have some time set aside in each meeting to reinforce good behavior and feel good about things that are going well. If we spend 100% of our time dealing with the bad stuff that needs to be fixed, we will never smell the roses.
9. Obtain and use a meeting cost calculator. You can find free programs on the WEB. Just plug in the average salary and the number of people, and the calculator lets you know how much money is being spent. With this information visible on the screen, wordy managers find it beneficial to shut up sooner.

All these rules are common sense. It is too bad they are not common practice, because they help preserve our most critical resource: our time.

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Article Tags: frustration, leadership, manager, Meetings, Time, waste



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Re: How To Post A Forum Topic That Gets Responses - Although I always enjoy GT's posts and find that I read them all the way through, generally I like Tanny my eyes get very tired and I normally just scan them or otherwise give up on them and move to the next one. Shorter is definitely better. MichelleJ
Partner with them - Welcome to the Group TMR, Some ideas of people you can partner with for the Custom Napkins: - Wedding Planners - Photographers - Annual General Meetings for Corporations - Pageants - Hotels - Elite Restaurants - Elite Spas
Building an Advisory Board - Steps 5 & 6 - hello Again! I am happy so many of you are interested in this thread. It is a great idea to build an advisory board and one that I know will generate many results for you. Step 5 & 6 are quite frankly housekeeping issues, but they are important. 5) Get the most out of your advisory board meetings. Prepare meetings well in advance. Set an annual calendar and make sure everyone is committed to being there. Chose a site that is comfortable and free of distractions as well as has the amenities you need. We once held a meeting at my house, which was a nightmare with dogs, and cats wandering around, the phone constantly ringing and my husband and son showing up early. Never again! Set an agenda with careful thought, get input on it and send any materials out well in advance of the meeting. You dont want your advisors reading stuff at the meeting. Meetings should be for good discussion, idea generation and action planning. Follow up the meeting with minutes and/or a formal action plan. Dont be married to your clock but also make sure you run the meeting effectively and dont abuse people's time. If you say meetings end at 8pm - make sure you are on time. If you think you are going to run over, get everyone to agree to that in advance. (even if its 7:30 you could say, I think we need to spend more time on this tonight. does anyone have an issue with staying past our 8pm time for tonight?? if you have step 6 working good - you'll get honest feedback) 6) Ask for Honesty. while honesty to me, should not be something you have to ask for, in some cases it pays to be really really clear about what honesty means to you and to the others in your group. you have to allow everyone to express their thoughts and ideas, openly and frankly. this is no time to take things you dont like personally. I like to ask my board members what their mistakes on a certain topic were. It helps me learn from them and not have to face it the hard way on my own. If you foster open communication and honest feedback, focussing on problem solving and resolutions (not defending the mistake etc.) you will get further ahead than you even dream possible. Remove the EGO's from the room if you can. And always remember, the board came together because they believe in you, your business and your integrity. Capitalize on it!


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