Better Meetings

Sarah sat down at her desk with a defeated huff. Again. She’d just come from yet another meeting that felt like an utter waste of time. And who has that much time to waste around here? How is it that a group of people can be so completely oblivious to the minutes ticking by? Don’t you people have anything better to do? She thought as she looked at the mountain of desk work that had made no magical progress on its own while she was gone.

Have you ever felt like your time was held hostage by a bad meeting?

Studies are saying that right now, the average US worker spends about 25% of their time (so 2 hours each day) in meetings. If the US workforce includes about 160 million workers, then that’s about 320 million hours in a day – in meetings.

Let’s assume, for the sake of illustration, that 75% of the meetings out there are fully effective, or, to put it differently, that of the meetings we have, 75% of everyone’s time is put to effective use. Stop and think about down time, distractions, tech challenges, multi-tasking, mood swings, repetition, folks showing up late or leaving early, side bar conversations, people not being prepared, etc. 75% of the time, everyone is fully engaged, fully prepared, fully ready, fully participating, and 25% of the time still gets wasted.

25% of 320 million hours is still 80 million hours.

And that’s just today.

Let’s bring that home a little …

Imagine this week, you’ve got a 40-hour work week. Let’s assume that like the US average, you spend 10 hours a week in meetings. And let’s assume that those 10 hours are productive 75% of the time, but 25% of the time, they’re not. That’s still 2.5 hours out of every week where you’re not able to get everything you could out of your work week because it’s being wasted in a meeting. That’s 130 hours a year. What could you accomplish at work with an additional 130 hours a year?

And that’s assuming that 75% of meetings are great. I don’t know about you, but that number feels high for the stories I hear from frustrated friends and family!

Now, I’m not advocating for all work and no play. I’m not proposing that we squeeze another four ounces out of our day or out of our workweek like a cheap boxed wine.

I am, however, suggesting that we make the most of what we have, and that we stop wasting what we don’t need to waste.

So what do we do?

We have better meetings!

As a meeting participant, ask for and contribute to better meetings. Here are three quick tips to do just that:

1. Advocate for the meeting objective or purpose. Don’t just look for a meeting title or subject, ask for the “why” – why are we meeting? What’s our expected outcome? If the why isn’t clear, ask again - and again - until it is.
2. Push back if the purpose is “to discuss.” If we’re meeting to discuss, we might as well be catching up over coffee or ice cream or bottomless fries. There’s no “end” to discuss. How do we know when we’re done? To discuss is not a clear outcome or objective, push back until there’s something clearer, like ‘to determine’ or ‘ do decide’ or ‘to prioritize’ or ask to redesign the format.
3. Clear your head and your calendar so you can be fully present. Meetings are hard enough to get everyone in the room. Don’t add to the pain by being anything less than present and accounted for – be a helpful participant, and be fully engaged, tech down, eyes up, and head in the game.

As a meeting facilitator, host better meetings. Here are three quick tips to do just that:

1. Make sure a meeting is really what you need. There are lots of ways to collaborate: online tools, messaging apps, emails, polls, record a quick video and publish it if all you need to do is share information. But don’t drag people to a meeting just because you think it might be the easiest way forward for you! Make sure you’ve thought through the options.
2. Invite all and only the right people. Think through the people who really need to be present at the meeting you’re asking for. Be as mindful of their time as you hope others are of yours! Too many elbows at the table, and we won’t be able to get decisions made. Too few people at the table, and there won’t be enough hands to do the lifting! Miss someone key, and you may have to repeat yourself later!
3. Keep your eye on the clock. If you have gathered people into a shared physical or virtual space, be sure to demonstrate care for their time by being mindful of the passage of time. Simple steps like starting on time and stopping on time, or better yet, ending a little early, can win you friends when it comes to meetings!

How about you? What are your tips? Want to learn more? Check out our Advanced Facilitation session where we look at some of the really tricky behaviors that contribute to tough meetings, and how to navigate through them with ease. Navigating Through Conflict with Resilience and Calm is also another great session that can help you regain calm when tensions rise.