Avoiding the Meeting Wasteland

It is an absolute understatement to say that I hate meetings. In my opinion, the only good meeting is a canceled meeting! Over the years I have wasted more time waiting for tardy attendees to show up, listening to uninformed people discuss meaningless topics for hours on end, and then not make meaningful decisions about forward progress.

In a perfect world, every meeting would have specific objectives. The inability or unwillingness to establish required outcomes and action plans is the bane of many meetings. The meeting leader must emphasize the importance of the subject matter. The leader must also stress the importance of invitee attendance and participation. Also, it is imperative that the meeting leader insists on punctuality. Nothing defeats the progress of a good meeting more than having to stop for interruptions and to repeat information that has already been stated or presented.

Every meeting should have a stated starting time, and a targeted duration (time limit). Since all meetings are “not created equal”, the meeting length should adhere to the purpose of the meeting. If the meeting is being held to collect ideas and brainstorm, it may go on longer. If however, the meeting is to present specific options and then make firm decisions, the meeting may not last as long (assuming the participants have had a chance to review the relevant data, and have the authority to make decisions). For example, some meetings are called for the specific purpose of taking a vote without a lot of discussion.

The question often arises about the best way to help attendees prepare for the meeting. Are leading questions given to the attendees before the meeting necessary, or is it enough to just state the subject of the meeting? The leader has to make an assessment of each attendee’s knowledge of the subject matter (and an assessment of attendees’ presentation skills) in order to frame relevant questions.

The meeting leader has to strive to obtain effective participation from all attendees during the meeting. Human nature being what it is, there are certain individuals who will dominate meetings. Also, there are those individuals who will not participate for a variety of reasons. These reasons include not being prepared or, being passive in the face of stronger, more strident participants. Everyone must be allowed (required) to speak as long as they are making a meaningful contribution to the conversation.

Meetings are a necessity in our modern inter-connected world. The goal of meeting leaders is to reduce the waste and resistance associated with this human activity.

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