Surviving the Endless Cycle of Meetings: A Fresh Approach

When it comes to dealing with the relentless barrage of meetings, most advice tends to revolve around "how" to conduct them more efficiently. However, a fundamental shift must occur in how we perceive meetings. Regardless of how skillfully you optimize meetings about the wrong subjects, they will still be, well, wrong.

We've all endured our fair share of unproductive meetings: the ones with no clear objectives, agendas, preparation, documents, schedules, minutes, action items, or follow-ups. These are the meetings we all dread and are eager to transform. But what if the root issue lies not in how we conduct meetings but in what we're discussing during them?

In this article, we'll propose a strategy to dramatically reduce the time you spend in meetings. It's not about discussing the same topics at breakneck speed; it's about deliberating on fewer topics. In fact, this approach has led to a 90% reduction in meeting time for one of our clients.

This doesn't mean you can accomplish all the work in just 10% of the time. To cut down on meeting time, you'll need to invest significant effort outside the meetings to resolve issues efficiently. The result: improved efficiency, a better mood, and superior results.

So, what's the secret to transforming your meetings?

The sole purpose of a meeting should be "to decide and commit." No other goal justifies gathering people together.

No meetings to "discuss." No meetings to "update." No meetings to "review." No meetings to "inform." No meetings to "report." No meetings to "present." No meetings to "check." No meetings to "dialogue." No meetings to "evaluate." No meetings to "connect." No meetings to "think." No meetings to "consider." No meetings for anything other than "decide and commit."

Of course, to make informed decisions and commitments, it's essential to share information, track progress, provide updates, review materials, discuss ideas, analyze options, and evaluate costs and benefits. These are perfectly valid uses of meeting time, but they are intermediate objectives; the ultimate aim is action. To achieve this, a team needs to make intelligent decisions, wholehearted commitments, and impeccable execution. A productive meeting should primarily focus on the first two to attain the third.

Swing Through the Ball

If you've ever learned tennis or golf, your instructor likely told you to "swing through the ball." Swinging at the ball will result in a truncated swing and less power. Hitting the ball occurs as a natural consequence of swinging through it, but the real objective is to complete the swing, not just hit the ball.

Likewise, the key is to "Meet to decide and commit." When you meet to discuss, you're cutting your efforts short and working with reduced effectiveness. Yes, discussions are essential to make decisions and commitments, but the primary goal is to take action, not just talk.

However, many teams practice what can be termed "voodoo management." They believe that merely talking about an issue will magically solve it. They take pride in "working" on something while merely offering opinions about what "should be done." Unfortunately, opinions don't translate into action, and everyone ends up frustrated because the issue remains unresolved "after all the time we spent talking about it."

The Value of Information

Consider this scenario: You're locked in a cell with no communication for 24 hours. I offer to tell you the winning lottery number, worth $100,000,000, to be drawn that evening. How much would you pay for this information?

Nothing.

This information is worthless because you can't act on it. The value of information lies in its ability to improve your outcomes. If it doesn't lead you to make different decisions or take alternative actions, it's essentially worthless.

The same principle applies to meetings. Unless a meeting results in people acting differently from how they would without it, its value is effectively zero, regardless of how efficiently it's conducted.

An Expensive Proposition

Meetings demand that all participants convene in the same (virtual) space at the same time, making it a costly endeavor. The primary justification for this expense is the interactive assessment of alternative strategies and the collective commitment to pursue the best strategy for the team's mission.

While there are valid social and emotional reasons to gather, regular meetings should focus on tasks rather than relationship building. Nowadays, there are numerous e-tools available, making it possible for teams to stay updated, share information, ask questions, and collaborate without the need for traditional meetings.

The one thing that demands in-person interaction is the evaluation of how different courses of action will impact the team's mission. This process necessitates pooling each member's insights into their respective areas and their knowledge of potential opportunities and threats in their local environments.

For example, a global leadership team at a top IT company cut down their weekly four-hour "progress monitoring" meetings via video conference. They switched to shared documents where each project owner provided a brief review of what was done, what's planned for the next week, and any issues requiring team input. Only when an issue required collective input would they hold a team meeting. Otherwise, sub-teams would handle specifics.

These side conversations included only the relevant parties, eliminating idle participants. This approach drastically reduced meeting time, and the team now meets every four months in person to strategize and bond. Everyone values these meetings, which take only 10% of the time the weekly updates used to consume.

The Acid Test

Pick a red marker and scan your agenda for terms like "discuss," "update," "review," and other non-decisive words. Cross them out and evaluate what remains.

Then subject any remaining agenda item to the following three-question test:

1. "How will our actions change if we succeed in this meeting?"
2. "Why do we need a meeting to achieve this?"
3. "How does this contribute to the team's overall goal?"

You'll likely find that 90% of your meeting time can be eliminated.