309 hours per week. That's how much time, on average, attendees of one of our recent training sessions spend in meetings! The worst part of this is that most of the meetings people attend are a waste of their time. Here are 10 things you can start doing today to make your meetings more effective:
1. Explore alternatives to meetings. Think about how costly meetings are - just in direct labor costs alone. Make sure the time you spend in meetings is giving you the ROI you desire. How about a standing meeting or newsletters or other ways for regular updates?
2. Have an agenda. Your meetings should be direction driven, not "update" driven. If you can, distribute in advance what people can/should prepare or think about before coming to the meeting. It's also possible to have people e-mail you their thoughts/ideas prior to the meeting so you can ensure they have something to contribute!
3. Be on time. Start on time and end on time. Don't wait for stragglers and don't take time to catch up items for late comers.
4. Set ground rules. Avoid Blackberry abuse (this is a biggie) and other distractions. If you set ground rules, the other attendees of the meeting can help you call out the bad behaviors.
5. Have a focus. Meetings should not be primarily for updates and information exchange, but for action, discussion, and direction. The longer the meeting, the farther out you should be looking/focusing.
6. Promote healthy conflict and dialogue. The reason most meetings are boring is because most meetings happen after the meeting, not during it. Allow time for people to bring all ideas and issues to the table. Make it okay to question one another to find new/better/different ways.
7. Involve participants. First, make sure you have the right people involved in the meeting. Then, learn to be a good facilitator. Stimulate discussion. The more enthusiastic and inquisitive you are, the more your participants will be, too.
8. Drive to Action Steps. Meetings should create actions, not informational data dumps. Review decisions made and assign an "owner" to ensure accountability.
9. End with a bang. Don't let your meeting just end. Close it off with an upbeat quote, story, video clip, etc. Meetings can be motivational if you make them that way!
10. Read "Death by Meeting" by Patrick Lencioni. It's a fable/quick book that will give you lots of tips/ideas for improving all of your meetings.
SHINE ON!
