Are you spending too much time in meetings and the meetings you do attend are ineffective?
In this chat I talk about how to reduce the number of meetings you attend and how to make the ones you do attend more effective.
In order to reduce the number of meeting you are attending, if you are the meeting holder, ask yourself a few questions:
- Do I need outside input to make progress? If not, then just schedule time to do your own work?
- Do I need real-time input from others? If not, send an email.
- If you decide you do need real-time outside input then follow the following meeting guidelines to have more effective meetings.
1. Identify a desired outcome. What do you want to have accomplished by the end of that specific meeting.
- Direction
- Alignment/Influence
- Decision
- Help Needed
2. Get the right people in the room to facilitate your desired outcome
- Decision makers
- Stakeholders
- Team members
3. Properly facilitate the meeting
- Start with articulating the desired outcome of the meeting and the agenda
- Actively manage the agenda
- Resist the urge to work problems that come up
4. Take notes and send out meeting minutes
- Have a template for taking notes
- A good start is: Context; Direction; Alignment' Decisions; Help Needed; Actions; Next Steps
5. Have a follow-up plan if you did not reach your desired outcome
- Schedule follow-up meetings for specific outcomes that were not reached
- Set aggressive but appropriate deadlines
- Hold each other accountable for actions and commitments
