Smarter Meetings in the Age of Distraction

Meetings are often a source of frustration among workers, and for a very good reason. They are usually a complete waste of time and there are way too many of them on your calendar. I know I am not the first person to start their work for the day after 5pm or hide in a conference room just to get in an hour of focused work.
We have one meeting a week at Blossm. We talk about what we see for the company by week’s end and carefully plan out tasks to get us there. If need for discussion comes up mid week, we usually discuss the topic over a short walk or in a quick whiteboard session. This won’t work for everyone of course, but there are ways to make meetings smarter…
Recognize that not everything can or should be solved by a meeting
If you aren’t sure who may know the solution to your particular question, a phone call may be better.
For addressing creative or emotional topics, it might be better to go outside or speak over a coffee/lunch. Taking the office out of a meeting can facilitate more open, free-form discussion.
Encourage cross-functional interaction at your company
This one is probably my favorite. As a former auditor, there is no worse feeling than always asking for more from someone without giving back. Sometimes rigid formality can get in the way and hinder communication. By simply building a rapport with someone, you can improve project workflows and increase the efficiency of conversations.
One company that I worked at randomly assigned different employees to have lunch together each Friday. It was amazing to see the impact that these lunches had on the company culture! I was more aware of what the company did as a whole, not just what my department did. Individual tasks began to find their place as a part of a whole, rather than in a vacuum. I found myself wondering how I could improve reports to better cater to the departments who used them instead of simply doing “what has always been done.” During my time there, I also never witnessed all the conference rooms being fully booked; a rare sight at any company!
Reassess whether recurring meetings are still required
Human beings are attracted to routines and habits; it feels familiar and comfortable. But not all habits should continue on forever. Stop and think: do those recurring meetings still produce actionable outcomes or have they simply become a time to catch up on the weekly gossip?
Have a specific objective in mind for the meeting
This isn’t new to anybody, yet, most meetings fail to have a clear end goal. Sometimes you can’t make an agenda ahead of time, and that’s okay. But you should know what you want by meeting-end, and everyone attending the meeting should know what that is.
During the meeting, try to be cognizant of tangents as they can lead to conversations that exceed the scope of the meeting and may not be relative to the meeting’s end purpose. Focus more on deriving value and concrete results from your time together. Subconsciously, as humans, we tend to change gears when faced with the here-and-now — no one is perfect, but increasing our awareness of what is in front of us can help us pursue more meaningful paths towards realizing our vision.
Invite the right people and make sure they can attend
Scheduling follow up meetings with someone who was better suited for the original meeting should not be the norm. If a meeting comes to a point where it cannot move forward without the attendance of a new individual, it may be best to call that person during the meeting or simply reconvene later.
Action items are great, but keep them to a minimum
Go back to your meeting objective and make sure that any action items directly tie to the objective. There is always more work to be done, so plan action items modestly — and when they are completed, assign more if necessary. Feeling overwhelmed can lead to lack of motivation — it feels good to win and accomplish a goal.
If your employees have trouble completing action items on time, it might make sense to schedule an ‘action item completion session’ right after the meeting while it is still fresh.
Start on time and let people go if you don’t need them anymore
Encourage a culture of respect for other people’s time. It is our most valuable resource.
Meetings can be beneficial if done right- start making your meetings smarter today.
What are your experiences with meetings? What techniques do you use to keep meetings both focused and meaningful?

