A Meeting A Day Wastes Your Life Away

By Author: Martin Avis
Total Articles: 10
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Meeting. A coming face to face for friendly or hostile ends. >>
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary.
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How many millions of hours will be wasted today in pointless,
unplanned and unproductive meetings? Take a guess.

If just 1 person in 20 of America's working population has spent
one hour in a useless meeting today (an underestimate, in my
opinion) then the equivalent of over 120 person years have just
been idled away. Almost two whole lifetimes. Every day.

Yet that waste could so easily be avoided.

It has become the accepted business mantra: 'let's have a
meeting', as if the mere act of sitting around a table is going
to solve every problem. But in my long experience of trying to
focus on the issue while looking moderately intelligent while
desperately fighting to stay awake, few meetings ever get the
chance to solve anything for the simple reason that they are so
badly run.

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No grand idea was ever ...
... born in a conference, but a lot of foolish
ideas have died there.

>> F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Meetings tend to be held for one (or more) of the following
reasons:

1. Because the Client is paying top dollar for our services and
has asked for one.

2. Because nobody has any idea how to resolve the current
problem, so as many people as possible are gathered together to
share the failure.

3. Ditto number 2, but with the more optimistic expectation that
some solution will be eventually hammered out.

4. Because one person is convinced they know best and wants to
use a public forum to 'hear (and ignore) everyone's view' before
imposing their own.

5. Because it is Monday (or any other day) and we always have a
meeting at this time.

6. Because it is better than working.

The problem with the vast majority of business meetings is that
nobody really takes ownership. A well run, effective meeting is a
pleasure to be part of but sadly, training in effective meetings
management is rarely given. And so most start at a pretty low
level and go downhill from there on in.
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Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.
>> John Kenneth Galbraith
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Running good, effective business meetings is a skill that can
easily be learned. A whole book could easily be filled with
things to do and remember, the following 12 key points will help
your meetings to be fruitful and your colleagues to stay awake.

1. The first question to ask yourself is whether you really need
a meeting at all. Many are held out of habit, or a sense of
obligation. Consider a telephone conference call or even an
exchange of emails as your first option.

2. Who really needs to be invited? There is often a feeling that
'the more the merrier.' This is rarely the case. In my
experience, the smallest number of people involved leads to the
greatest effect. Make sure that everyone who is there has at
least the possibility of adding to the knowledge of the group as
a whole. Observers should be avoided at all costs.

A good way to limit the numbers is to work out the rough cost of
all the participants. Ten people in a meeting whose average
salary is $60,000 comes to over $330 per hour. Add in a notional
room hire cost and refreshments and you can see that even a short
meeting can cost your company serious money. Money which is
probably used more effectively if half of those ten people are
left to get on with their real jobs.
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The length of a meeting rises with the square of the number of
people present.

>> Eileen Shanahan
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3. Put one person in charge. It doesn't have to be the most
senior person, but whoever is delegated the role of 'chair'
should have sufficient force of character to keep everyone under
control. The important rule is that everyone must know who is the
leader and must not try to 'take over.'

4. The meeting leader should circulate a detailed and unambiguous
agenda to all the delegates in good time. If research needs to be
done or any items need to be brought to the meeting, this should
be clearly set out on the agenda along with the name of the
responsible party.

5. If the agenda can't be put on one side of a sheet of paper, it
is too long. Simplify it, or as a last resort, schedule two
meetings.

6. The leader should open the meeting with a clear announcement
of what the problems are.

7. It is very easy to get sidetracked. I have lost count of the
number of meeting I have attended where anything but the problem
in hand has been discussed. The worst offenders are clients who
are 'in town' and have nowhere else to go once the meeting is
over. They try to stretch things out to fill their time. Do not
let them get away with it. The meeting leader must be strong
enough to keep the group 'on message' and when everything has
been discussed that needs to be, wind up clearly and cleanly.

8. Don't rush. Give each point the time it deserves, but be aware
that the full agenda has to be covered and endless discussion on
a relatively minor point is simply another waste of everyone's
time.

9. If all the delegates work in the same building, call each one
in to the meeting only when they are needed. There is nothing
worse than sitting through two hours of irrelevancies before
getting to 'your bit.' But this happens all the time. Allow and
encourage people to come in and out as required.

10. Firmly, but politely ask all attendees to turn off their
cell phones.

11. Give one person the job of taking clear minutes. Make sure
that a summary of the meeting's decisions and actions is run
through and agreed by everybody before breaking up. At the same
time, make sure that a clear action plan for each attendee is
minuted. Distribute the minutes as quickly as possible -
certainly within 24 hours.

12. Schedule meetings before lunch or late afternoon. It is far
more likely that they will finish on time. Always make a point of
starting on time - even if all the attendees have not arrived
(unless there is a very good reason). If you are known to run a
tight, effective meeting your colleagues will respect you for it
and usually behave accordingly.

Follow these pointers and your meetings will work harder and more
efficiently than ever before. And who knows, you might find you
didn't really need a meeting after all.


About the Author Martin Avis is a management and training consultant.
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