Thinking Faster

Why do we meet?

If we accept the commonly held conception that meetings are everywhere and always a big waste of time, then why do we meet so regularly?  People are not sheep, and should be able to recognize a waste of time and be able to prioritize accordingly.  Sometimes in fact I think people see meetings as a one hour vacation from the regular work they do, and take as many meetings as possible.  Have you ever noticed how few people actually contribute during a meeting - either by participating in the conversation or decisions or agreeing to take an action item away from a meeting?

This is not to say that I find meetings unimportant - just that I don't think everyone shares the opinion that meetings should add value to what we do.  As I see it there are at least five reasons to have a meeting:

- Provide status of a project or business function to those who are responsible for progress but are not involved day to day

- Request resources from peers and superiors - this can be in terms of dollars or human capital

- Gather input on a design from a wide range of individuals - commonly used when a difficult problem arises with no clear "right" answer.

- Inform the "troops" about the direction the group or business is heading, especially if a big change will occur

- Sell people products or ideas

I will break these down into two large categories.  Generally, we meet to inform, educate and persuade, or to gather data from others.  In the first instance (inform, educate and/or persuade) the purpose is to broadcast information and allow people to ask questions.  This is what I call a Tell or Sell meeting.  The only reason to do this as a meeting rather than a conference call is to allow open, honest discussion and obtain feedback.  So if the participants don't interact (which happens quite often) what's the point of meeting?  Just stick the information in a website or email or host a teleconference so people can take the one hour vacation right at their desks!

In the second category of meetings - generating alternatives, data gathering and design - it's important that everyone who attends contribute ideas and information because that's the whole point of the meeting.  When designing a semiconductor chip or a new software application, the people in the room should be there precisely because they have valuable knowledge and information to contribute.  When generating alternatives or brainstorming, lack of participation hurts the end product. If the individuals don't contribute, what's the point of having them in the room?

This categorization is probably oversimplified but in the end the point remains.  We generally meet to educate, inform, persuade or sell ideas, in which case few people need to speak and therefore few people need to attend, or to generate alternatives, provide different or unique insights or gather data, in which case everyone who attends should contribute.

If meetings are important (and many are) and they are part of being productive and getting things done (as they should be) then the people who attend should contribute and should understand that expectation up front.  Those that attend and don't participate should be disinvited to future meetings because they are not adding value.  It's also important to set a clear expectation among the potential meeting attendees as to the purpose and outcome of the meeting.  What's the goal for the meeting and what will be different afterwards?  Finally, this diatribe also suggests that meetings should be made as small as possible in terms of attendees, and everyone who attends should expect to contribute.  Whenever possible, especially in the first category, ask yourself if what you want to do can be accomplished through good communication in email, voicemail or on a department newsletter or website rather than a meeting.

Meeting Management Software

Meetings can be a significant waste of company time and resources.  Most anecdotal surveys find that over 60% of meeting time is considered to be wasted by those who attend.  With an estimated 11 million meetings (A DAY!), imagine the increase in productivity if meetings could be eliminated, or more realistically, planned and managed more effectively.

Meeting Management software should manage the entire meeting process, from initial planning (Do we really need to meet?) to considering the objectives and outcomes of the meeting to which individuals should be involved and the topics that should be discussed.  A good meeting management solution would be available to everyone via a web-browser interface and would allow the meeting planner to distribute preparation materials or information and assign tasks before and after the meeting.  Finally, a good meeting management product would help the meeting planner capture decisions, action items and "parking lot" ideas and record them.  Additionally, the software would help ensure that the decision and action items are followed up and completed.

Got your attention so far?  Good.  The firm I work with has built such a product and is seeking firms which are interested in managing meetings more effectively to beta test our Meeting Studio product.  There's no obligation and no installation requirement, as we can host the application and allow your team to work with it.  Realize this is a beta test and that means there may be certain "undocumented features" but we're using it internally and it seems to be working quite well for us as well as several early alpha testers.

If you are interested in beta testing a good new meeting management product, please contact me at jphillips@netcentrics.com.  I'll be happy to discuss the software with you.  Feel free to email me even if you don't want to test the software if you have ideas for workgroup and enterprise productivity that you'd like to discuss.

Getting Something Done in Meetings

Meetings are probably the best way to exchange information and ideas if a meeting is led correctly.  Otherwise, they can be a big waste of time.  I want to continue to explore the dichotomy of good meetings versus time wasters by looking at what it takes to hold a good meeting.

The first thing we should do is determine a meeting is actually necessary.  If we simply want to communicate some information, is email or another communication vehicle a better approach?  We should be constantly asking ourselves if the meeting is the best use of time and resources.  Also, who, exactly, needs to be in the meeting?  What will each person's contribution and takeaways be?  Making a meeting as small as possible where appropriate means that less time is wasted and the people who need to contribute are present.

Next, what's the purpose of the meeting?  As far as I can tell, there are five reasons for a meeting:

• For a team to report status to a person or a group
• For a team to make a recommendation to a person or group
• For a group of people to brainstorm or create alternatives
• For a group of people to debate and discuss design criteria
• For a person or team to educate a larger audience

If these are appropriate rationales for a meeting, we should inform the potential attendees about the outcome of the meeting.  In other words, this is a status meeting or this is a meeting where the following recommendations will be made.  This information will help the recommended attendees decide if they need to participate and to prepare accordingly.

Once the meeting parameters are established, send any information that is necessary for the meeting to be successful to the attendees in advance.  This allows the meeting to be focused on debate and decision, not education.  Information to support ideas and recommendations, plus a well-constructed agenda will help keep the meeting on track and limit tangents.

Appoint a meeting leader who will run the meeting according to the agenda, and a person to keep the minutes.  The leader must be someone who can elicit opinions and debate when necessary, but who can shut down debate and discussion that is not on point.  Meeting minutes are essential to remind everyone of the decisions that are made and follow up actions.

Finally, post the results of the meeting, minutes and followup actions.  Ensure that everyone understands what was decided and who owns the followup actions.  Make sure that what was decided gets done, otherwise people will view meetings as a waste of time.

A few tips on meeings:

• Hold as few meetings as possible to make each one important
• Include as few people as possible in each meeting to ensure everyone in the room understands the importance of the meeting
• Keep meetings as short and as to the point as possible
• Stick to an agenda and enforce meeting discipline
• Ensure all relevant points of view are on the table when discussion and debate is required.  Meetings fail when only one point of view is considered
• Each meeting should result in tangible actions taken as a result of the discussion. 

The result of this discipline will be shorter, more focused meetings that create more action and decisions as a result.  I recommend augmenting this strategy with a "management by walking around" approach to ensure senior executives are getting plenty of ad-hoc face to face time.

Sitting around wasting time

I have up on the wall in my office some of my more professional doodles that were created during the dregs of the many meetings I attend.  I have to confess that some of my best art - and some of my best to-do lists - were generated during meetings about business topics.  I look forward to most meetings with the same enthusiasm as a visit to my dentist.

This is yet another conundrum for me - meeting and open discussion are exceptionally important to gain critical insight for many business problems, yet most people admit that meetings are painful and often a waste of time.  Meetings are becoming even more important as we work in teams that span the corporation.  A study conducted by MCI in the late 90s found that the average office worker attends 2 meetings a day on average, and that in any given day over 11 million meetings are held.  The respondents to the survey felt that well over 60% of the time they spent in meetings was wasted.  Talk about a drain on motivation and productivity!

What can we do to improve the effectiveness of meetings?  First, make sure you need to have a meeting.  Often a meeting is used to inform others of new information or to update others on a project.  Use email, a weblog, a Wiki or other means to provide updates.

Second, ensure the purpose of the meeting is important.  Every meeting should have an agenda with a handful (5) topics or less, and if possible all of those topics should require a decision.  Meetings often become discussion sessions where little is decided and few actions result.

Third, limit the number of invitees.  I'm reminded of the advice for travellers when packing for a trip.  Lay out everything you think you'll need, then pull out 30% of the clothes you had planned to take.  Meetings need the same discipline.  Invite those who have or need critical information or who must be part of the decision, and communicate the results to everyone else via email or other means.

Fourth, limit the meeting time.  Create a sense of urgency in the presenters and the attendees.  Most meetings should have short, tight agendas and should reach decisions quickly.  The longer a meeting drags on, the more it impacts good decision making and productivity.

Fifth, take action as a result.  Meetings should result in decisions and actions.  Who owns the followup?  What are the next steps and who should take them?  These assignments ensure that what's discussed and decided it actually acted on.

Meetings are an important part of the daily work of knowledge workers.  That doesn't mean they have to be long, boring and unproductive.  In fact, improving meeting planning and management might be one of the best investments your firm can make - along with a stop watch.