"Beautifully written and full of wisdom, The Ring in the Rubble is a gem." --Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager ® and Leading at a Higher Level
Meeting Productivity
Find the Ring of Productivity Beneath the Rubble of Mismanaged Meetings: How to Get Twice as Much Done in Half as Much Time
We’ve all experienced it: what author Pat Lencioni calls Death by Meeting. You know the routine:
People straggle in as we hear how everybody’s weekend went.
The facilitator announces how long the meeting will last (which it will even if we accomplish what we need in half the time).
We start out on topic but somehow after fifteen minutes we are discussing the mating habits of fruit flies or something else not tied remotely to our agenda.
The usual suspects kick in by asking interminable questions, making tangential comments and generally talking just to hear themselves talk.
Meanwhile, Mac from technology is fiddling with the speakerphone. Seems we are having trouble connecting with Suzie in Boise, who, calling from her home office and dressed in pajamas, at least has the option of playing Sudoku to keep herself occupied. The reset of us are trapped in a mind-numbing haze of non-productivity.
Sound familiar? Following are five tools to help you dig your way out of the rubble of mismanaged meetings to find the ring of productivity that always lies underneath. Share these tools with those who lead meetings in your organization, or those who train others to lead meetings. Better yet, volunteer to lead meetings and employ these tools. You’ll become a hero in the process. (Just be prepared for the request to lead more meetings going forward)!
Five Tools to Find the Ring of Productivity Buried Within Every Meeting
- Be clear on why you are meeting or cancel it. The best way to avoid a bad meeting is not having it. Many meetings become fixtures on the schedule even though they lost their relevance long ago. Originally they had a purpose but nobody can remember what it was. Inertia and lack of initiative now sustain them. To avoid this common calamity, know the purpose of your meeting and clearly articulate it ahead of time. If you can’t sum up why you are meeting and what you hope to accomplish in a few crisp phrases or short sentences, cancel the meeting or postpone it until you can.
- Challenge the agenda: separate the gems from the junk. Way too much meeting time gets taken up with items that don’t make a shred of difference relative to what you are trying to accomplish. Review the agenda before you meet. Get rid of any items that either a) don’t directly relate to your primary purpose for meeting, or b) don’t impact the entire group. You can handle the latter issues offline with the relative parties some other time. You can handle the former items in another meeting where they better fit, or toss them in the trash altogether.
- Apply the ‘Golden Rule of Relevance.’ During the meeting pay attention to your gut. If you get bored, find your mind wandering or wondering if you have gotten off course, you probably have. Have team agreements in place that it’s okay for anybody at anytime to question whether the current conversation is consistent with the meeting’s original intent. Employing this tool will derail non-productive discussions and quickly help you get back on track. Also, make sure you only invite people who absolutely need to be there. Countless hours of productivity get wasted when people sit though meetings that have little relevance for them and in which they have little if anything to contribute.
- When you are done, stop digging. Schedule meetings for less time than you think you’ll need. Heed a hard stop time. If you finish ahead of time great, don’t ask questions just to extend the process. Instead, congratulate yourself on a job well done and get the heck out of there.
- Schedule meetings at the end of the day and only as a last resort. Finally, create a culture where meetings are a last resort. If someone suggests a meeting for whatever reason, challenge it. Ask if there is a quicker, better way involving less people to reach the desired outcome. If not, schedule the meeting for the end of the day when everyone is tired and ready to go home. There’s no better way to motivate folks to stay on point than to stand between them and their dinner!