Start Planning Meetings
Start with 2 Questions
The first step in meeting improvement is to ask two equally important questions. Ask these about each proposed meeting and about meetings in your organization as a whole. Ask these questions of everyone who will be attending each meeting.
Question #1: Why meet? What is the purpose of the proposed meeting? What do we need or hope to accomplish? If the meeting was successful what would that look like–what would have happened as a result?
If you can’t clearly articulate the purpose of the meeting and the desired outcomes, and communicate that clearly to the invitees/attendees, DON’T DO IT! Take the time required to come up with a clear purpose (there may be more than one) and craft a clear statement of the meeting’s objectives, BEFORE you schedule and call for a meeting.
Question #2: Do we need to meet? Is a meeting the best way to accomplish those aims? Might there be a better way?
Once you’ve clearly articulated your purpose, confirm — don’t assume — that a meeting would best serve that purpose.
- Consider using an email, poll, or memo with a request for feedback to accomplish your aim.
- Would simultaneous or asynchronous small group meetings move you towards your goal more quickly than a large group session?
- Or maybe a single longer and larger gathering would be a better fit than many smaller, shorter ones?
- What about an online project management tool with an easy-to-use chat feature to expedite workflow?
- Would one-on-one conversations achieve your purpose?
- How about sharing documents in the cloud for feedback, collective editing, and worksmithing?
- Do you really need to have standing meetings of a set length every week?
Think about all the processes you can use. Don’t meet — or not meet — out of habit. Don’t meet because you think you should. Don’t meet at the same time every week because you’ve always done it that way. Match the means and ends — the method and the purpose.
Simply asking these two questions and answering them with your team should make an immediate difference. I hope you cancel some meetings, reschedule and restructure others, or find future meetings to be more effective.