Daily Recurring Meetings or Recurring Nightmare...

Everybody must be there. But not everybody knows why they are there. Gathered, sat in preferred mode, and obviously caffeine induced. The daily recurring covert messages to each other seeking the clarity not received yesterday, or the day before that. The save me messages to partners, friends and not present colleagues. Almost everyone expertly, precariously balancing their phone not quite out of sight, typically beneath the table risking autocorrect mayhem. In the era of remote working and the zero connectivity zoom zone, it is amazing how many people still do this despite there being no need to hide something from someone who is not actually in the room. Unconsciously distracted and not quite in the room, we also risk missing the moment that may actually have mattered, if and when it occurs. Oblivious and important, the Head talks through the list while the rest set that internal alarm to trigger a response when their name is mentioned. Please don't let me be the bunny in the headlights.

What can change in 24 hours? A lot I guess, but every 24 hours? If 24 hour change is common, that is a cause for alarm not another meeting. And maybe, just maybe the common the denominator is the productive time lost to the recurring 24 hourly Group Meeting. God forbid there is more than one group meeting. Though the meeting addict has a tendency to need more than one fix per day. At least, one hour lost to everyone in the room, too many with no purpose or contribution to offer.

Domino effect. A knock-on one hour lost to the people not in the room waiting to speak to someone in the room. Unnecessary delay, which will no doubt be on the agenda at the next Group Meeting.

At least 5 hours per week for everyone across every working week. That is almost 13% of a typical 40 hour week per person spent in a meeting not doing what you do, but talking about it, or probably listening to someone else talking about what they should be doing. Time spent or time lost?

No doubt whatsoever, communication is THE vital cog in every business. So, it is more than reasonable to say that meetings are an excellent and essential forum for communication. But meetings should be singularly focused and have a clear agenda and desired outcome. Meetings should be short and to the point. And meetings, should only ever include the people that matter to achieve the direct purpose of that meeting.

It is my experience that recurring, over expansive, and too many items for discussion meetings, are a sign of mistrust and unwillingness to surrender to delegation, to allow teams to do what they need to do. That includes making mistakes, so we can learn from them quickly and move ahead with key learnings, renewed purpose, building and maintaining momentum.

Or worse still, they are sign of a lack of genuine belief in the strategy. The constant need to go over the plan, again and again. Like checking sums just one more time. This drains confidence and belief across the entire team and can turn a good plan into a bad plan very quickly.

I believe that the starting point for any leader, is believing in yourself first. Believe you have the right to be a leader. Understand that leaders lead not manage, and never micro-manage. Believe you have the right strategy and the ability to change when necessary. And that you have chosen the right people to deliver it. Competent, motivated and skilled people will manage without being lead by the hand - it is why you hired them in the first place.

Left to lead, not manage, the blinkers are removed. The fog is lifted, the noise is dimmed and space emerges to think more clearly. The rest will happen one way or another.

As for meetings.. to keep your people in the room, invite less of them, less often and only when they bring something to the table.