Time to Stop the Meeting Madness

DO YOU find yourself feeling ‘suffocated’ or overwhelmed by the meeting madness?

Are you fed up of having to attend mindless, unnecessary or boring meetings that serve no real purpose?

You are not alone.

It is estimated that the average executive spends nearly 23 hours a week in meetings: up from less than 10 hours a week in the 1960s.

Of course, some would argue meetings are essential to ensure good collaboration, interaction and innovation between staff.

However, there is a price to pay for time wasted in long or unnecessary meetings - time which also eats into staff efficiency, engagement and productivity.

Fortunately, there are some useful tools available to transform this ‘meeting madness’ into a more efficient way to get the most of your team.

Leadership and management expert Janet Patterson explains some of these in a recent Dropbox.com article:

1. Narrow the agenda

Many meetings are rambling and long-winded. Therefore, the key is to keep the meetings short (maximum about 15 minutes), and to narrow the agenda. This involves focusing only on the topics in hand. Of course, should the meeting get sidetracked, a good manager will simply make a note, and invite the relevant person to organise their own short meeting at a later date

2. Know your goal

When calling a meeting, it is essential to know exactly what you want from it. Thus, when deciding agenda items, a good manager will always ensure they have a clear and concise plan for what they want to achieve – or a ‘concrete goal’. And if this isn’t reflected in the agenda, you need to rethink it

3.  Try ‘standing’ meetings

This is actually not as bizarre as it may sound. Research has shown that when a meeting is held where everyone is standing up, not only is it shorter than one where people are seated, but it also increases productivity and sharing of ideas. This is because people are physically drawn closer together when standing - and are also less distracted by their personal computers or notebooks

4. Start meetings at odd times

If you are sick of the time wasting and inefficiency caused by latecomers, try scheduling your meetings at unusual times, such as 10.10am rather than 10am, for example. This will give those with ‘back-to-back’ meetings just enough time to pick up a coffee, or use the bathroom, before they arrive

5. Send materials out beforehand

By sending out some of the basic information for the meeting beforehand – and making it clear it needs to be read carefully by the attendees – you can save yourself a lot of time at the meeting. However, only send what is really necessary for people to get a good grasp of the meeting, as too much information can be counter-productive

6. Only invite necessary people

Google has a policy of only inviting a maximum of 10 people to each meeting. Therefore, good managers should only invite those people who can directly help them achieve their ‘concrete goal’. This is good meeting policy and, of course, in most cases, the less people you invite, the quicker you are likely to achieve your goal

7. Ban electronic devices

Research has shown that taking notes by hand, rather than on a laptop, actually leads to better recollection and greater focus. Therefore, banning all gadgets from meetings can be a good way to get people to give you their full attention: without the distractions of emails, text messages or Internet chatting.