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been done in a 5-minute phone call or a 10-minute memo? The higher you go, the busier you get. And the meetings you attend must count. If you get a reputation for conducting useless meetings, the busiest and best people won't show up. |
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If you're asked to attend someone else's typically unproductive meetings, defer with one of the following: "Is attendance mandatory?" "I'm unavailable. Is my attendance important enough to change my schedule?" "Could I send a representative?" "Would you mind if I offer my input in writing or by phone?" Others will generally surmise that you expect meeting time to be well spent. |
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Tip 357: Call a meeting only for the right reasons. |
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When you call a meeting, make it significant and be prepared. In a client situation, you may have been working on a deal for months that will either thrive or nosedive on a single meeting. The higher you go in your own organization, the more expectations others have for your abilities to conduct yourself in a meetingeither as a participant or leader. Take things seriously. |
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Skip the meeting if you have nothing special to discuss, if you don't need others' input, if you have already made up your mind about what you plan to do, or if getting others involved would only complicate your plan. |
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Do call a meeting if you need to present information to a lot of people quickly and you don't want to write it, if you want input from others on your idea, if you want to gain "buy in" from the team, or if you want to motivate and energize the team about the idea. |
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So how about the wrong reasons? Meeting as a substitute for work. Rubber-stamping a decision. Complaining. Demonstrating power to make everybody show up. Because joy and misery love company, sorting out true motivations may require some soul-searching. |
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Some people think that agendas lend too much structure to a meeting, that people can't be spontaneous, or that the atmosphere will be too formal. Nonsense. That's like saying if you plan for a vacation by packing the right clothes, arranging for transportation, and deciding on a destination that you can't relax and be spontaneous along the way. |
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If you're leading the meeting, set an agenda. Use active verbs, summarize in a sentence the issue at hand, and let the group know what you expect on each issue"for discussion only," "for their information only," "to collect your data," or "for decision." Whether you stay right with the agenda or take |
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