Meetings can quickly become the bane of the workplace. It’s a great way to simultaneously take up time that could be spent doing real work while still feeling like you’re actually getting things done. But before you know it, you’ve lost an hour of your day and you only have more things on your to-do list.
It’s time to reevaluate the way your company does meetings.
Make sure the only people in the meeting are the ones who need to be there.
Not everyone needs to be in the loop on everything. Be brave enough to mindfully omit people from meeting invitations depending on if the topic of that meeting is above or below their pay grade. Don’t invite the CEO to a meeting to discuss the holiday calendar. Don’t invite an assistant to a meeting about an acquisition.
A meeting is effectively a short-term team that aims to arrive at a solution or accomplish something, and the most effective size of a team is the smallest possible number that can still do the work. Think twice about who you invite!
Establish a clear purpose for every meeting.
Maybe it’s to decide on a budget, or to plan a company-wide happy hour. Whatever it is, be aware of how your meeting is progressing towards being able to check its task off of a list. As soon as that’s done, you can safely conclude the meeting and get back to work.
Be honest about what a meeting is: a disruption!
If you’re actively requesting that your employees leave their workspace for a meeting, the workflow and their schedules are now disrupted. It’s a speedbump, and it’s too easy to feel like they’re necessary to keep moving forward. Instead, harness the endless apps and technological solutions aimed at group conversation and collaboration. You might just surprise yourself by how much time you save. Your employees will thank you too!
