31
Make Your Meeting Time More Productive

How much time do you devote to meetings? You might want to say, “Too much!” But seriously, do you have any idea what percentage of your work life is spent meeting with people? Try calculating it. If meetings take just 20 percent of your time, and you work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, that’s a whopping 400 hours annually.

Just think about what you’d be able to accomplish if you could retrieve only 10 percent of that meeting time. You would have a whole week to devote to your top priorities.

In fact, if you start to rethink your approach to meetings, you can find ways both to spend less time at conference tables, and also to get more value from the meetings that you do attend. Start by trying out these strategies to reduce the hours you spend in meetings:

Cut them short. Explore with your colleagues whether some regular meetings could be shortened. For example, if your team always gathers on Monday mornings for 90 minutes, aim for a new time limit of one hour. And if other meetings typically last one or one-half hour, could you all agree to cut them down to 45 or 20 minutes? An extra bonus of shortened meetings will be the gap between your standard ending and starting times. Participants in your 10 o’clock will be late less often because they’ll now have a chance to take a break or check their e-mail after their nine o’clock ends at 9:45 a.m.

Stand up or walk around. Another way to encourage shorter meetings is to occasionally schedule quick standing meetings, where nobody takes the time to sit down. And an approach that works well for some kinds of topics is the walking meeting, where two or three of you will stroll for half an hour, as you talk through your issues. This can happen inside, in large or connected buildings, or outside, perhaps in nearby parks. I know a leader who twice a week has a 30-minute walk-and-talk time block on her calendar. Any staff member can sign up to be her walking companion, and if the slot is left open, she may invite a staffer she rarely has a chance to see.

Say no. You might also reduce your time in meetings by getting better at declining invitations. Of course, many meetings are useful or required. But sometimes your participation isn’t all that important, and you can be excused simply by explaining that you have another commitment (which might mean your scheduled time at your desk).

Create a no-meeting day. Finally, consider working out an agreement with your team members for a meeting-free time zone. If you all decide to keep Wednesday free of meetings, you can plan on one day a week for telecommuting or concentrating on your top priority projects.

When you run the meetings, keep them productive with these strategies

Some of your most valuable meetings are the ones where you’re in charge. And if you’re the leader, you have an opportunity to make better use of your time and theirs by tweaking the routine. Here are nine basic rules for running effective meetings:

1) Know the purpose. Before you send out invitations, be clear about your goals in calling a meeting. When no business is pressing, or work can be accomplished more easily in another way, be flexible about cancelling regular meetings. Leaders known for holding pointless meetings may have a tough time attracting participation when they really need it.

2) Have an effective invitation process. For successful meetings, you might have to be assertive about sending invitations and reminding participants of the details.

Even if it’s a regular meeting and everybody knows the drill, specify the date, day, time, and place.

Routinely send at least one reminder, at the last minute.

If you’re using e-mail for invitations or reminders, put the details in the subject line.

If it might be useful, share the proposed attendance list.

3) Create an agenda. A written list of discussion items helps to shape participants’ expectations and keep the meeting on target. This is true even when the gathering consists of just two or three team members talking through their issues over coffee. It often makes sense to ask attendees for discussion items and to distribute the agenda in advance.

4) Build in structure. Even informal meetings should feel intentional. As the leader or convener, plan to include in each meeting:

An opening in which you state the purpose and the desired outcome.

A middle in which agenda items are discussed, with each one being moved forward by at least a baby step.

A closing when you may sum up the conclusions, action items, and assignments, and perhaps mention next steps or future events. It is also appropriate to thank people for their attendance and contributions.

5) Warm it up. There’s a legitimate social component to many meetings, and you may make more progress if all the participants feel engaged and comfortable about offering comments. You can address some social needs and establish a cordial mood for the event by devoting the first five or 10 minutes to a warm-up phase in which everyone is invited to offer information, suggestions, or concerns. This can be as simple as brief introductions, or you might request brief answers to a question such as: “Do you have any good news to report?”

6) Set the tone. Treat all participants with courtesy, give speakers your full attention, and don’t work on other projects during the meeting. If you have trouble staying focused, try taking notes of the discussion. Show your respect for attendees by making sure your meetings always start and end on schedule.

7) Establish ground rules. Regular meetings will flow more smoothly if everybody understands the etiquette. Set the rules or build a consensus on matters such as:

Attendance.

Arrival times.

Participation in discussions.

Use of cell phones and other devices.

Confidentiality.

8) Keep track. Every meeting should have someone designated to keep a record, at least of key conclusions and assignments. This can be as simple as your rough notes—the ones that you, the leader, use when you summarize the meeting in your closing remarks.

9) Follow up. After the meeting, be sure that both the participants and the invitees who couldn’t attend are sent a copy of the notes. Consider touching base with participants who left with assignments, checking that they have everything they need, and are moving forward on their tasks. If nothing seems to come of your meetings, people will lose interest and stop taking them seriously.

Get more from the meetings you don’t run

No matter how well you manage the meetings you run, and how successful you are at avoiding some others, you probably still spend a big chunk of your work time convening with colleagues. So your next challenge is to make that remaining meeting time as productive as possible.

That was a valuable lesson for my client Sharon*, who didn’t understand why she hadn’t been given the chance to lead a team. Sharon groused to her mentor, “If I didn’t have to waste so much time sitting in their useless meetings, I could really show them what I can do.”

The mentor countered, “You can’t get out of those meetings, so why not make better use of them? That’s where people see you in action, so think of those sessions as a chance to show off your strengths. Instead of coming in late and acting distracted, aim to look like one of the most productive people there.”

Convinced it was worth a try, Sharon developed a five-point plan for being a stellar attendee at each required meeting:

1) Prep. She’d rearrange her priorities to allow a little time for preparation, like reading the agenda and the background materials sent out in advance.

2) Plan remarks. While prepping, she’d identify at least two comments or questions to contribute to the discussion.

3) Focus on the purpose. She’d ask herself, “What’s the goal of this meeting? And what can I do to help get us there?”

4) Create goals. Before arriving, she’d set a personal objective like, “Today I’ll come across as calm and organized.”

5) Focus through writing. Once the discussion began, she’d listen carefully to each speaker, taking notes to help her stay focused.

Sharon’s plan worked. Meeting leaders began noticing that she seemed more engaged and was adding to the discussion. They started to count on her active participation, and that led to her getting better project assignments. After six months, she was appointed team leader for an exciting project.

To her surprise, once Sharon launched her five-point plan, she found it brought other benefits beyond just looking like a more effective meeting participant. Once she developed the habit of always being prepared, her job started to feel more interesting and satisfying. Also, she became aware that the growing respect for her as a participant continued after each meeting. Soon she felt more connected to her colleagues. And she had fewer moments of boredom and frustration. “By trying to act engaged,” she said, “I found out that it’s more fun to be engaged.”

The fact is that meetings represent a big part of your life as a professional. And as long as you have to spend the time, why not get more back from it? Here are six strategies for maximizing the return on the hours you spend in other people’s meetings:

1) Do the homework. You won’t fool anybody when you’re searching through your papers or tablet, trying to catch up with the crowd. When you put the meeting time on the calendar, schedule some time for any necessary preparation.

2) Be prompt. Even if the culture tolerates casual start times, late arrivers show a lack of respect for their more punctual colleagues. By typically being there at the appointed hour, you can help to set a more productive tone. And once you’re there, you can make use of any delay by reviewing the materials or networking with the crew.

3) Understand the intention. It’s easy to dismiss many meetings as pointless, but that doesn’t get you anywhere. Somebody had something in mind or you wouldn’t be sitting in that room. You’ll be able to make a bigger contribution if you have some sense of the objective. Dig a little, and you may find several reasons why you’ve all been called in, such as:

Sharing information.

Brainstorming and solving specific problems.

Establishing goals, making plans, and keeping track of milestones.

Creating a collective sense of purpose.

Encouraging collaboration by helping people get to know each other.

4) Set your own goals. Of course, you always want to do your part to make the meeting productive. But beyond that, you’ll get more out of your participation if you have your own games to play. For example, if you’re trying to broaden your brand, your objective might be to speak knowledgeably about areas outside your normal portfolio.

5) Listen. One reason so many sessions feel useless is that attendees just aren’t paying attention. If just one or two of you start really listening, you can change the tone. And if you make a habit of being truly engaged, chances are that when it’s your turn somebody will hear what you have to say.

6) Follow up. Often, the success of a meeting depends on what happens next. Do your bit. Keep track of any commitments you make and do that work. If you’re particularly interested in aspects of the conversation, find ways to continue the dialogue later. And let people know if you found their remarks to be helpful.

If meetings are part of the job, complaining about them is simply a waste of time. Instead, strategize to get as much as you can from the hours spent around a conference table.