Goodbye, boring meetings!
Most workers are spending more time in meetings during the pandemic. Almost half feel that they are wasting their time. Time for us to take a closer look at how you can make meetings more productive.
Drawing up a relevant agenda
There is no evidence showing that holding more meetings boosts productivity. Nonetheless, employees have been spending 8-10% more in meetings every year since 2000. 45% feel overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attend. What can organisers and managers do to make meetings worthwhile?
Each meeting needs to have a clear purpose. Meetings for the sake of meeting waste people’s time, reduce engagement and - which is often forgotten - make the host look incompetent. Sharing an agenda is a first step but may not suffice. If you are organising the meeting, choose the goal and communicate the desired outcome. Is your objective to improve relationships, inform, gather input, innovate, solve an issue or get a decision? Once you know what you want, you can invite the right people.
You can also opt for a more inclusive approach. Being the host does not always mean that you have to dictate the programme. If time allows, send potential participants an email asking them what they would like to discuss and build the agenda around their needs. In the spirit of John F. Kennedy do not ask what participants can do for the meeting - ask what the meeting can do for the participants.
Agendas can, but do not have to be circulated in advance. David Kolmos and David Benjamin recommend building it on the spot for important meetings in their 2019 Harvard Business Review article. When you try to solve complex situations, you can be more successful by collecting challenges, clustering input and ranking them before addressing them together. This does not mean there is nothing to do prior to the meeting. The host still has to define a clear goal, keep discussions on track and get everyone on the same page.
One step at a time
Looking at agendas, one can get the impression that what counts is the content. The participants matter as well and must not be treated like robots. The Process Communication Model is a popular approach zooming in on human behaviour. It categorises employees according to their dominating personality. While it is impossible to please everyone at all times, it is important to think about how the structure of meeting can get everyone focussed and, consequently, increase productivity.
Particularly during lockdown, quick check-ins do not hurt even if the group is eager to get tasks done. Similar to a small ice-breaker, the goal is more to determine the mood and mindset of participants with a quick introductory round. This could be an open question (e.g. What is your personal weather status?) or a simple vote (e.g. How realistic is the goal for today’s meeting?). You can discuss it afterwards but only if you think the group really demands it.
There are various ways to document outcomes. Taking minutes can be tedious if you aim at covering each contribution. It often suffices to summarise action points and, upon request, some explanation. Ask whether all agree with who has to do what by when. You can check after each item or at the end of the meeting. Do not hesitate to remind participants who want to rush off that a quick wrap-up can avoid going back and forth afterwards.
If you expect a lengthy exchange, consider hiring a graphic recorder. These facilitators are trained in capturing discussions by drawing the main points. Although the service requires spending extra money, a visual summary can increase memory and comprehension. You can also illustrate agendas and connect different meetings.
Reshuffling ranks through rotation
The question of whether you should have someone facilitate the meeting is more easily answered than picking the right person. You always need a host but it does not have to be the expert on the topic. Asking someone from outside the organisation or who is less familiar with the matter at hand can accelerate discussions because they can act as an unbiased umpire.
Formal and informal hierarchies can hold back great minds. We have all been in meetings where a few people dominated causing others to disengage. This is not necessarily done on purpose but the host would make a grave mistake by ignoring this imbalance. If we want to reduce the risk of missing important issues and increase the buy-in to get good work done, we should engage the group.
Participants can also lead on different items. English management consultant Meredith Belbin came up with nine roles: ranging from creative plants to the practical implementer. Even if it is a small or informal meeting, you can increase engagement by distributing tasks.
Collaborative techniques can make your meeting even more inclusive. If you need to solve issues with novel ideas, you can choose amongst simple and more complex options. The relay baton requires as little preparation as brainstorming, yet is significantly more effective. The host introduces the challenge with an open-ended question. One person writes down a suggestion and passes the sheet of paper on to the next person, who develops it further. Zoom, BlueJeans and other conference call platforms offer a Whiteboard feature where you can collaborate online.
If you have more time, the lotus blossom technique helps you generate ideas in pairs or small groups. You put a problem statement in the centre of a 9-box sheet and come up with eight ideas. You then specify each suggestion to create a large pool before applying key requirements. Such structured brainstorming can yield more creative results.
Three tips to amp up your meetings
Collect input from team members to make the agenda more relevant.
Start with a quick mindset check-in and agree on action points at the end.
Run more inclusive meetings with the help of collaborative methods and by rotating roles.
- written by Benjamin Wilhelm, benjamin[at]thedandeliongroup.eu
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