Meetings - From Wasting Time to Effectiveness in 7 Steps

Wait, so meetings are bad?

yes!!!

Why actually? That's how organizations have always worked, hasn't it?

Because it's not effective. You get much less out of the invested resources. And the resources invested are many.

Meetings have a proven, certain, and numerical price:

• Hourly wage of each employee X number of employees participating in the meeting X duration of the meeting

• Alternative cost - all the things that could have been done while we were in the meeting that didn't really contribute to productivity

But in meetings, decisions are made, things are finalized, lines are straightened out…

Basically, that's true. But on top of that, layers of ineffectiveness are added:

• More people are invited than are actually needed ("maybe she will have something to add" /"lets not offend anyone" / "she once did a project like this" / it also concerns their team).

• We invest a lot of time in things that are not the issue itself (because if we're already here, why don't we chat?!)

• Have you heard of Parkinson's Law? "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" In other words, if we block an hour in our calendar, we will fill it, even if the matter itself could have been resolved in 15 minutes or through a shared document

An expansion on Parkinson's Law – If you're in the mood for a historical curiosity from 1955, you can read the original article here, or check out Mali Alkobi and Yehudit Katz for a summarized version in audio format.

• In most organizations, meetings are not conducted according to a defined and distributed agenda in advance, which makes the discussion less substantive, and leaves room for concrete decisions not to be made.

• At best, decisions are made, but there is no effective documentation and subsequent implementation management.

So if it's so ineffective, how come organizations are doing it?

Well, there are many reasons, the main ones being, of course, habits, convenience, control and politics!!! find more here

So no meetings at all?!

I didn't say…

It is possible with meetings, but only with 7 golden rules:

1. Every meeting must have an agenda, made public at least 24 hours prior to start, a responsibility of the meeting organizer.

2. At the beginning of each meeting, someone is appointed to take notes, and distribute a structured summary of tasks/responsibilities/timeline. It is possible and even recommended to rotate the role of summarizing among team members

3. Ask yourself whether your presence is essential for every meeting invitation you receive. Not sure? Uncertain? Ask the meeting organizer – seek clarification on why you were invited, what is expected of you, whether you need to stay for the entire meeting, and exactly where you are relevant according to the agenda.

4. Managers: Encourage employees not to accept meeting invitations by default. Yes, even for meetings you schedule yourself.

5. No recurring meetings

   Yes, I know I’m inviting criticism from Agile enthusiasts, but in my opinion, even the daily standup isn’t sacred. It’s worth asking whether we actually need it today or if there’s really nothing new to discuss.

6. Try to promote an organization-wide meeting-free day.

7. As with anything, a change in organizational culture requires top-down commitment.If a meeting-free day is established and then the CEO schedules a meeting, chances are it will become an empty declaration, accompanied by a wave of cynicism.

You can dive deeper with Ruti Rudner in the episode “Three Questions You Must Ask Before Every Work Meeting.”

And if you’re unsure where to start or how to implement these golden rules, feel free to reach out to me.