Raise your hand if you like meetings! I’m an oddball, for the most part I truly enjoy meetings as they have always given me a great vantage point to view how my co-workers communicate and gain understanding that I can use for future discussions. Of course, I have had to endure my fair share of meetings that were a huge waste of my time and no amount of observation can redeem that.
What is the purpose of a meeting? Organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant has said that meetings should only be for decisions, bonding, learning, or creating, he’s right. A meeting should always have a clear purpose and finite end point which may seem like a no brainer but I did have a manager whose quick 20 minute meetings often lasted all day. It was pretty insufferable to say the least, not to mention it cut severely into our productive time. To put it in terms of dollars, those all day meetings came at a cost of about $2000 with nothing productive coming out of them.
How should a meeting be conducted? Part of that depends on which of the 4 purposes outlined above but there should always be an agenda that is shared with the attendees ahead of time with the goal of everyone coming prepared. For a decision making meeting, state the goal and the decision that needs to be made. Review options, if brainstorming needs to be done be sure to start with current known options to provide a foundation. Once your group has arrived at the decision, outline the next steps. Meetings for the purpose of bonding or learning should always be carefully planned and have a set schedule, expect to build in time for feedback. Creation meetings require good leadership skills, your goal is to focus on keeping the meeting running smoothly as opposed to managing the discussion. It’s a great time to give people roles, this helps with team building, takes some of the pressure off the leader, and adds extra energy to the creative process.
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