Meetings are like the weather; we love to complain about them. Humorist Dave Berry once wrote, “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’” CEOs spend 72% of their total work time in meetings with an average of 37 each week. As a leader, meetings are your job. The question is, how do you do that job more effectively and constructively?
“Meeting” Is Not a Dirty Word
Complaining about meetings is a tired trope. The fact is, you’re supposed to be meeting with people because you are a leader of people. You need to support them, listen to them, check on them, provide them with clarity and direction so they can move forward. You’re the leader, so start leading. Stop whining about meetings — and start utilizing them to get the results you need.
We love how Pat Lencioni says it in Death By Meeting:
The good news is that there is nothing inherent about meetings that makes them bad, and so it is entirely possible to transform them into compelling, productive, and fun activities. The bad news is that in order to do this, we will have to fundamentally rethink much of the way we perceive and manage meetings. That means we cannot keep hating them.
There are plenty of other things we can complain about! Let’s take “meetings” off that list.
5 Elements of an Effective Meeting
We have all sat through meetings that should have been emails and meetings that should just never have happened because nothing was accomplished — except for creating frustration, dissension, confusion, and boredom. Yes, we can, and should, hate these types of meetings. Stop having them. Start having meetings that create trust, conversation, ideas, and plans and that lead to action.
Here are five elements to foster an effective meeting:
1. Clear Purpose
Why are you holding this meeting? What’s the point? And what’s the plan to accomplish that purpose? There are any number of reasons to meet, from finalizing the work plan for Project X to solving production delays to discussing goals for next year.
The problem with most meetings is that leaders try to do everything. Don’t. You cannot tackle every last topic in an hour, and it’s all too easy to fall down a rabbit hole chasing tangents. Figure out what you need to do, do it, and be done so people can move on to other work for which they’re responsible.
When planning a meeting, plan it: Don’t shoot from the hip. Even if you happen to be great at improvising, your people deserve better. Plan an agenda and questions to get the conversation going in the right direction. It takes energy, time, and thought to facilitate meetings but again — it is your job. The more meetings you run, the more tempting it is to just show up and wing it. It’ll be fine, we tell ourselves. It might be fine, but it’s not great. Your team needs great meetings so they can help lead the company.
2. A Well-Thought-Out Process
When you know why you’re meeting, you can plan the tactics needed to accomplish your goal. Your agenda should include the purpose and the process. Let’s say, for example, that the purpose of your meeting is to discuss your organization’s values. Here’s what typically happens: you put out a vague agenda, people arrive, and… Wait, what are the values again? This is a bad meeting.
What if, instead, you sent participants a piece to read in advance and some questions to reflect on. We’re going to talk about our values. Here they are. Think about someone in your department who exemplifies those values. Highlight one that seems to be getting the least attention on our team or in our company.
Be prepared. Prepare them. This ensures that they are ready to derive the greatest value from the experience.
3. High Engagement
How will you engage people so they participate in the conversation, bring their ideas, ask their best questions, and admit doubts without it feeling like they’re threatening you or anyone else? The process is more than just topics; it has to be geared towards facilitating engagement. There are different ways you can do it:
- Breakout Groups. Whether in person or via Zoom, take the time to break into pairs or small groups to discuss an issue for three minutes and then come back to the group. They can then bring their best ideas forth — and it keeps us from the inevitability that two extroverts will do 90% of the talking.
- Ice Breakers. Think they’re beneath you? Not worth it? Why waste your time? Well, we will agree that if the point of an ice breaker is to “have fun”, usually they miss the mark. But the point of these little exercises should be to help people see each other from new angles and experience parts of their team members that might surprise them. It’s a way to build trust, and sometimes people get chuckling and opening up along the way. Now they’re ready to engage.
- Notice — and Ask Questions. Notice when someone isn’t talking and invite them to contribute. “I’d like to hear from Frank; I know you have experience in this area.” Or, “Wait, I saw your face when we were talking about X, Sarah. Tell us what you’re thinking.” Notice and call it in. The message is: We’re all working together to get the best from each other, so we can then do the best for our company. It’s great when you do this as the senior leader; when your team feels so empowered that they, too, notice and ask probing questions… It is unbelievable.
4. Concrete Conclusions
So we had this meeting. What did we — not just you — decide? This is actually one of the most important parts of the meeting.
In this regard, a tool called Fist to Five is quite useful in gauging consensus and getting quick feedback. Summarize what it seems like the decision is, count to three, and everyone holds up a hand:
- Fist: I do not support the idea/proposal at all
- One: I have a lot of questions and reservations about this.
- Two: I’m uncomfortable and not sure I can accept this.
- Three: This is good. I can go along with it.
- Four: I really like this.
- Five: I completely support this plan
If someone is holding up only one finger, you might respond with, “Tell us what you’re thinking. What would need to happen to move from one to at least three?” Rather than you declaring what the answer is, or worse, implying you have a Yoda-like understanding of everything, just ask. Explain to your team that this is a temperature check. You want their feedback.
As they say, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Stop trying to go fast. You’ll end up alone. If you’re a leader, you cannot be alone. Go slower, so you’re going together.
5. Follow Up
You could follow up in an email — but we are inundated as it is. What’s better is a tool, like a portal, that allows participants to seek out and access the information — the same information across the board so everyone is updated. Empower them to go look.
Meet with Purpose
You spend a majority of your time in meetings. It’s not a travesty. It’s not a waste of time. It’s not a burden. It is an opportunity! It is your job. People are your job. Give them great meetings, and find out the caliber of ideas, innovation, and performance you can unleash.
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