I’ve always wondered how many people out there have ever argued that meetings are the key to their personal and professional productivity. I suspect there are very few. Don’t get me wrong, I actually value face-to-face meetings more than anything else in the world when it comes to knowledge transfer and getting alignment on important issues. In fact, I find myself ignoring emails and phone calls much more in favor of meetings. But if I’m in meetings all day, when does the actual work get done?
Meetings are Unproductive
For most job roles, a meeting means sitting around a table with a group of people that are all waiting for their turn to speak. We’ve all been in that situation before (likely on both sides). Look around the room about 50 minutes into a 60 minute meeting and observe.Most people are likely drifting off, checking email, or “pretending” to check email on their phone.
“Research says you should ban laptops and sitting down, set a timer, and have silence breaks if you want meetings that accomplish anything (FastCompany).”
Put a goldfish in a small fish bowl and it will remain small. Put them in a large aquarium and that same fish will continue to grow until it fills the tank (or so I might have read once). The same goes for meetings. If you schedule an hour, the meeting will last an hour. If you schedule a 30 minute meeting, you’ll be rushed, but it will finish at the half hour mark (or beyond).
Rules For Productive Meetings
- No Spectators
- Screens Down
- Focus Your Agenda
- One Meeting Owner
- Focus on Forward Thinking Rather Than Reviews