The Meeting is Cancelled.
Meetings are like Mom’s meatloaf: Sometimes they’re okay, sometimes they’re bad. Just like Mom’s meatloaf, you usually don’t have a choice either.
Mom doesn’t want you to have a bad meal and no organization wants to have a bad meeting. How can we make them better?
The drudgery around meetings often comes down to intentionality. Meetings are often intentionally at strategic times and days so that people are most alert and productive, which can also be a negative thing. What if we’re taking people’s most productive time of the day to do something that doesn’t end up being all that productive.
Imagine this scenario: Weekly all-staff meeting on Monday at 10am. The morning up to that point is pretty relaxed with a blend of checking email, office chatter, and some people rolling in a little late. Then you hop into a meeting going through the usual stuff and it ends up going late because something unexpected needs to be discussed (turns out, it only applies to half of the people in the meeting, but the other half gets to be an agreeable spectator while avoiding the temptation of email, social media, and text messages). Tired from the meeting, everybody heads to a little later lunch and gets back to the office around 2pm. Let the true workday now begin.
Being intentional with our meetings will maximize productivity and team spirit.
Don’t have the meeting.
I’m halfway joking, which also means I’m half serious! Why are we having this meeting, and why do we all have to be here? If a meeting with ten people to discuss a slew of topics could be a quick conversation with two people, an email with three people, and a more intentional meeting with 5 people - everyone wins.
2. Prepare everyone with an agenda.
You’re not doing anyone a favor by surprising them with the topics of discussion just before you talk about them. The extroverts will throw out all sorts of thoughts while the introverts need more time to process. While the leader can easily feel like the smartest person in the room (because they’ve had the time to prepare), they’re actually just the most inconsiderate. Ouch.
3. Ask questions.
Statements stifle interaction while questions engage minds. If you’re wondering why people aren’t contributing to a meeting, it’s possible that they shouldn’t even be in the room (see 1. above) or maybe someone is dominating the meeting with statements and expectations.
4. Stick to a time limit.
People should know if they should pack a lunch. When someone feels the inspiration to go on a rabbit trail and elongate the meeting, someone (anyone) should have permission to refocus the meeting.
5. A meeting without follow up is time poorly spent.
If a meeting doesn’t become action steps that people will be held accountable to complete, then we might be missing the point altogether. Some things may be solved in the moment, but there is usually some sort of follow up needed.
Bonus: If part of the intentionality of your meeting is for the team to regroup and enjoy spending time together, wouldn’t it be more fun to do… something fun? If you want fun to be part of your culture then don’t focus on having fun meetings - focus on doing something fun!
Appoint a Chief Fun Officer to plan:
Weekly Lunch: Communicate and plan weekly staff lunch where volunteers are invited (extra points if it’s strategically placed on a weekday when volunteers come in to assist with administrative/weekend preparation tasks)
Occasional Outing: Put together a monthly/quarterly gathering that would be enjoyable for everyone. A half day for people to unplug and connect with each other will build more trust (and good ideas) than your weekly half day meeting.
What do you think about these ideas? What would you add? Was this content too harsh, not harsh enough, or just right?
Bottom line: We are stewards of our own time and energy but when we set a meeting we become stewards of others' time and energy as well. Let’s lead with consideration and intentionality to add value to others.