How to Make Meetings Less Terrible

There are over 55 million meetings in the US a day. Research has shown 70% Senior Managers view meetings as unproductive.

That is a lot of time spent on unproductiveness!

On an episode #389 of Freakonomics radio, Stephen Dubner covers the subject of the purpose of the meeting and how to make them more effective.

Here are 8 tips to improve your meetings:

1. Have an agenda. Most meetings either recycle their agendas or not even have an agenda! Would you schedule a meeting with a customer without an agenda? I think not, so why do we do this with internal meetings with employees?
2. Keep meetings short. Research shows that the default duration for meetings is an hour? Why? Because that’s the default in Outlook. There is nothing wrong with scheduling a meeting for 25 minutes, or 40, or even 15 (check out the agile daily standup)!
3. Keep meetings small. There is a tendency to invite as many people of possible as to avoid leaving people out. Sometimes this is unavoidable though use the agenda to structure a meeting where individuals can join and leave specific agenda items. This keeps meetings small and focused. If a person isn’t able to add value or is needed to make a decision — then use e-mail to keep them informed.
4. Avoid unhealthy peace. Meetings exist for groups of people to come to common understanding and make decisions. Unhealthy peace leads to lack of engagement, participation and organizational decisiveness. Don’t be afraid of adding a little heat in to your meetings by using good controversy.
5. Leave distractions at the door. Avoid multitasking during meetings. Create an environment free of digital distractions. Checking and addressing emails, notifications and chat messages destroy meeting effectiveness. Allow participants to check their messages by scheduling in breaks during longer meetings, say 5 minutes for every 25.
6. Start the meeting right. Start on time, start by connecting people in the room. By connecting people, the participants will be more engaged and involved in the meeting. Try by offering “a rose & a thorn” or use the check-in.
7. Structure the meeting right. Avoid status updates, these can be done via e-mail or other channels. Assign a facilitator to run the meeting, to maintain focus and ensure equal participation. Research has shown the perception of meeting quality is directly correlated with the time spent talking. As in, the more you talk the better you think it is.
8. End the meeting right. End on time. Bad meetings frequently overrun due to lack of focus, purpose and relevance. Ending on time or early is a sign that the meeting was run well. Explicitly capture decisions made and action items to follow-up. End with what you want people to remember.

Meetings are an essential part of our work lives. Do your part in making them less terrible. Your colleagues will thank you.