The Powerful Affect Stopping Meetings Has On Culture
If you are the manager/owner/CEO of a small to mid-sized company and feel you have too many meetings, why don’t you do something about it? You already know that your employees feel you have too many meetings.
Stop complaining. Run a little experiment.
Walk for twenty minutes for thirty days, and you’ll build a practice. Cut out sugar for a month or read for 30 minutes a day – and a habit will form.
New habits can develop when you try something new every workday for 30 days.
Why do people say they have meetings?
- To review options
- To brainstorm
- To make decisions
- To share information
- To gain feedback and have discussions on topics
- To socialize
- To strategize
Try this instead:
Don’t allow meetings to take place for thirty days.
The only exception is when an external client/partner requests a meeting. And if you must hold a meeting, invite the smallest number of colleagues to attend.
- If you usually would meet to review options, share a brief, written summary, and ask for comments by a specific time and date.
- If you typically meet to brainstorm, share a brief on a topic, and solicit ideas based on the criteria you share. Summarize what you receive and share the notes.
- If you need a decision, ask the person who owns the decision to choose between two options via email. If they insist on a meeting, start with just you, not everyone on the team.
- If you must share information, do it in writing – briefly. Few things require in-person meetings to share updates.
- Put your request in the subject line – I need your input by Thursday at 4 pm. Need a decision by Monday at 2 pm. Need your ideas by next Weds at the end of the day.
- If you want to gain feedback or discuss a topic, narrow down your request to a few people. And see if you can get input via text or email.
By experimenting with no meetings for 30 days, you’ll limit discussions to a few meetings that must be done in person or online.
Plenty of companies are developing approaches to solving this never-ending problem. If a meeting takes an hour but could be covered in writing, think of the time savings and improved effectiveness of your team.
My hunch is that people sometimes meet because they are afraid of putting ideas in writing – they lack confidence in their ability to think, communicate and ask for feedback in this format. Talking is more casual – and not always necessary for every topic. Training employees with guidelines is needed to make meetings rarer.
Well-Structured Team Meetings are Good for Alignment and Improving Belonging. But Not For Strategy
Meetings can play a role in bringing people together to get alignment and a feeling of belonging. But the same is true about other activities like bowling or other casual outside activities.
If you hold an alignment meeting once a quarter, you’ll get more attention and focus on the content because it’s less frequent. The leader/manager can remind colleagues of the plan and answer questions. But once a quarter is manageable.
Meetings suck for developing strategy.
With all the collaborative tools available, giving employees back their time and limiting meetings can profoundly impact effectiveness. It also creates a sense of responsibility and ownership – something powerfully important to give frontline workers the ability to make decisions.
When asked, most employees want fewer meetings. Executives spend 23 hours per week in scheduled appointments, and according to Harvard Business Review, 71% of managers feel that meetings are unproductive and inefficient. There is a clear step that companies can take to solve this problem – eliminate meetings.
The Law of Two Feet
There is an idea called the law of two feet. If you attend a meeting and aren’t’ contributing or learning, get up and leave – and find a place where you can do one of those two things.
Also, consider making meetings optional and requiring a written agenda. Don’t attend any session without an agenda. If the person calling the meeting can’t take the time to put an agenda together, then the meeting will be aimless. Keep minutes to 15-30 minutes. Consider if in person, make a meeting a “standup only” meeting to help keep the meeting as short as possible.
Meetings called to solve problems are a waste of time. Instead, assign an owner to the problem. Let them speak to individuals who can consult. See post about RACI here.
RACI is a decision-making tool. Then, let that person summarize what they learned, what they recommend, and if necessary, a vote. Or – just let whoever gets to decide –decide.
If you want to improve productivity, stop meeting about improving productivity. Make meetings an endangered species.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
