11 tips to stop wasting time in meetings and start working asynchronously
From now on, after the lockdown (forced) experimentation, more and more of us are working from home. This was no different at Decathlon.
But working efficiently from home is not that easy for everybody, for most of us it is a new habit to acquire and many things from the previous world had to change.
At Decathlon we had a lot of face-to-face meetings, weekly synchronization, and so on… (Just like every company I guess), in other words, many traps that can make you lose time.
Lost time is never found again. Benjamin Franklin
So first of all working from home does not mean that you have to be one hundred percent available and always on videoconference.
Disclaimer:
Those tips came from our recent and past experiences and we hope it will help you spare less time in endless meetings…
TIPS :
For attendees :
- If meeting goal is not clear enough, ask for details before accepting the invitation.
- Ask for documents and context as a prerequisite before accepting an invitation.
- Be prepared.
- As soon as you are not focused and doing something else, you are most likely wasting your time.
For organizers :
- Before sending an invitation, think about “Can this meeting be replaced by an email?”
- Working asynchronously should be always considered (share documents, comment it, contribute, keep a record of everything, set a deadline).
- Meetings must have an agenda!
- Agenda should be concise, one decision per meeting it is easier to stay focus.
- Notes should be taken by someone.
- 1:1 during videoconference should be (banned or at least) time-boxed.
- If you are organizing a meeting it is your job to get the most out of a meeting.
I hope those tips will help you gain time and productivity!
Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and tips!
PS: Saving time will let you save plenty of time to practice sport ;)
