One of the curses of the corporate world is the meeting. When executed correctly, they are vital to getting things done. When executed poorly, they are a burden and take time away from productive work - as well as cause frustration and discontent among the masses.
Thanks to some great career gurus like Dave Lorenzo - I’ve got some tips for making meetings work for you. A fair warning though, it’s tougher to implement than you’d think.
1) MOST IMPORTANT - Have a desired outcome for the meeting. A deliverable. A reason for spending an hour in the conference room. It could be a list of questions you want answered, sign off on a project, etc….if you’re meeting over something you could just as easily pass around in an email, don’t waste everyone’s time. (I’m looking at you, weekly staff meeting)
2)Be Prepared - Every time I’m in a meeting with someone that has to be brought up to speed, I want to smack them. If I called the meeting, I sent you the materials in advance. If you called the meeting, you should have asked for information in advance. And, if you called the meeting just to get up to speed, God help you.
3)Be courteous, and know it’s ok to say no. Never schedule a meeting just because someone doesn’t have time marked off in Outlook. People that do that are the reason I keep 70% of my time marked off anyway - even if I have nothing going on. Ask first - schedule second. Give me a day’s notice, so I can get up to speed (see #2). And, realize, I may say no. The most liberating moment of my life was the day I said - “I don’t think this really justifies a meeting, can you just send an email, and we’ll discuss if there are any further questions” - that saved about 8 man hours of time.
That’s all for now folks - here’s to making meetings shorter, more efficient, and fewer in number!
