Meetings: Cost versus value

Purposeless meetings can be a huge waste of time. Today, in the business world, there are too many meetings and are frequently not objectively managed.

You run from one meeting to another, internal and external, like a bee. Is there a purpose or compelling reason to have so many big meetings involving so many people. It's a big drag on everyone and on the business. The ripple effects created by a bunch of disengaged people returning to their desks is beyond measure.

Terrible

Pointless meetings have become the scourge of modern office life, depriving companies of valuable working time and money. They are the knee-jerk response to any challenge we face at work, be it a simple people issue or an administration lapse which can be sorted over the phone or at aone-on-one meeting.

This doctrine results in an overwhelming amount of meetings, which usually are so poorly administered and they don't even achieve whatever they're meant to, resulting in yet more meetings. Common mistakes made by us include, inviting people who don't really need to attend, not having attendees prepare for the meeting, not enforcing a strict timetable and agenda for the meeting, not having clarity around the purpose of the meeting, letting the conversation veer off topic or allowing the discussion to become disorganised, not ensuring that all views are voiced, heard and considered.

Meetings can either be very successful making those involved feel part of a team or they can be disastrous, leaving everyone present feeling confused and frustrated.

Did you know that setting the tone is more important than the words you speak in a meeting? To make the most of your meeting it is important to put some thought into what the meeting is supposed to accomplish, who should attend, what should be discussed, the best place to have it and the most convenient date and time.

Having decided on the basics, equally important is how the meeting is chaired. If you are the chair ensure that you arrive early. Greet everyone warmly and ensure that everyone is comfortable and pays attention without distractions. Use your opening remarks to set the tone for the meeting, establish the purpose and then review the agenda.

Give a short overview of each topic and what you need to achieve. During the meeting it is important to pay attention to the structure of items. For example, a step by step approach to problem-solving encourages people to develop and evaluate alternative solutions. Without this, the meeting can dissolve into a free-for-all with the strongest voice dominating or no ideas being generated or the item being put on hold until the next meeting.

Commitment

Meetings are meant for making decisions and finding solutions, not for ranting, griping or dwelling unnecessarily on problems. Always make sure, every agenda item ends with a decision and clear to do things including responsible people and deadlines.

Any verbal exchange can easily go from good to great if you know how to set the overall tone from the start.

The most important aspect of effective verbal communication during a meeting is to respect other people's time. State this at the very beginning of the meeting to set the tone that you want to get down to business and not waste their precious time.

Decisions are worthless, unless you turn them into commitments. Haven't you been in meetings where lots of decisions are made but nothing gets done and nobody is held accountable? If you finish the meeting with commitments about 'who will do what by when', you've built 90% of a bridge. Take a stock of all the regular meetings you have, look back and decide which ones are really necessary, which ones add value versus wasting time.

Begin the habit of costing the meetings, cost component of people and other related costs to be aware of the financial impact of bad meetings.

This may give you a couple of surprises and your attitude towards meetings will change.