How can you keep your meetings on track?

There are roughly 4 reasons to meet – to connect, to align, to debate and to decide. I lead with to connect because humans are social creatures. We crave connection and to be understood. While I am a big fan of asynchronous work I still think we need synchronous communication to build connections. When coming together around a decision to be made it is important to be clear about whether the purpose of that meeting is to debate or decide. Are you in the process of collecting more data or points of view? Do you need to take action right away? You will save yourself a lot of frustration by stating upfront what the goal is and having everyone in the right mindset.

When you have the urge to call a meeting — stop and take a deep breath — then ask yourself, is this meeting necessary? Most meetings have an underlying agenda that is cloaked in micromanagement. Leverage technology to create more efficient processes of disseminating and exchanging information.

When meetings are necessary — ensure you define a clear objective, properly prepare your materials, only invite contributing personnel, and set a timer. This will significantly increase the efficiency of your meetings by keeping everyone focused on the objective. No one likes it when people “think out loud” on their time — so be prepared and concise.

Do not set standardized (daily, weekly, monthly) meetings without a Clear Objective. For example, “Weekly Synchronization” is not always necessary. Despite the attempt to forecast a schedule, this disrupts the workflow and usually distributes only simple information that can be exchanged more efficiently using technology.

Better yet have an action item template that is accessible to everyone and editable. This helps the team to add and leave comments for the next meeting. Having this online template is better than sending an email. Emails get lost and sometimes it is troublesome to try to find the summary. When there is a link that can be bookmarked and accessed by the team it makes it easier and less frustrating. Invest in simplifying and digitalization.

The three-hour meeting…… The one-hundred-slide PowerPoint…… The requirement to stuff a meeting room full of non-contributors…… And, of course, the worst of them all…… “The meeting to establish an agenda for the pre-meeting in preparation for the real meeting.” Why are these still a thing? In a digital age where information can “literally” move a thousand miles a second — leaders continue to rely on rudimentary methods of information sharing. Undoubtedly, too many leaders “waste” countless hours of productivity sitting in unnecessary meetings every week — and as communication technology continues to evolve, our communication strategies remain stagnant.

Periodically review recurring meetings on your calendar, say quarterly. Any that have outlived their purpose simply cancel. For all others consider how you can either improve or shorten them. Here are some ways to shorten meetings: - Have an agenda. - Use asynchronous methods to provide updates (videos, comments, notes) and use time in meetings only for questions and clarifications. - Provide prep material ahead of time. - Include only those people who need to be there. - Consider breaking up large meetings into smaller, more focused ones. Time is a non-renewable resource. Use it wisely.