I Can’t, I Have a Meeting

 

It seems that the busier we become, the more meetings we must attend, which only makes us even busier, so we end up with less time to accomplish really important things. I know plenty of executives who work extra hours in the evening putting out their most important work product because they spend so much time on calls or in meetings during the day that they can’t get anything useful accomplished.

Now, with all the extra benefits provided by new technologies, we are subjected to even more meetings. It used to be that to attend a really important meeting, you might have to book a hotel and a plane reservation; at least you could rest and think a little on the plane. Now, with travel budgets being slashed, people just jump from conference call to conference call, using various online meeting software services that are the next best thing to "being there." Now, we can actually schedule a meeting to participate in another meeting. I would rather be stuck in traffic.

Not all meetings are bad, but many of them are definite time wasters. Here are some guidelines to follow to help make sure your meetings don’t end up ruining your schedule:

1. Make sure there is a good reason for the meeting. This is rule number one. Don’t call a meeting if there is a better way to handle the issues. Can the topic be handled with an email or a memo? Will one quick phone call to one person accomplish as much as getting a group together?

2. Also, be certain that all those expected to attend have been advised of the meeting’s purpose in writing, as well as the times the meeting will start and finish.

3. Give people the option of responding to let you know whether they can, or can’t, attend. Most email programs allow you to send a meeting invite that will record the meeting directly on the invitee’s calendar, and give them a chance to respond to you if they can’t come.

4. If this is an online meeting, make sure everyone has the call in number and understands how to log in to the meeting site. Because it can take some time to call in and log on, encourage everyone to start the call in process a few minutes before the scheduled start time, to assure you get started promptly.

5. Prepare a written agenda for the meeting and follow it.

6. Decide whether you are the best representative or if someone else should run the meeting.

7. Decide in advance whether you will take notes during the meeting. You might want to delegate this task to someone. If you decide to tape record the meeting, make provisions for transcribing the tape.

8. Keep discussions to the topic at hand, and control questions that go off on a tangent. STICK TO THE AGENDA AND YOU WILL FINISH SOONER AND GET MORE DONE.

9. Make certain that by the end of the meeting all participants have a sense of accomplishment. Summarize what the meeting achieved, and confirm all next steps and who is responsible for taking them.

10. Decide in advance if you will follow-up the meeting with a written synopsis of what was accomplished.

11. End on time.

12. Thank participants for attending and advise them if they will receive a written or verbal follow-up. If there will be another meeting, announce when it will take place.

13. When attending meetings called by others, request an agenda in advance; only attend the part of the meeting which is relevant to you. And don’t hesitate to decline an invitation if it is clear that your presence is not necessary to accomplish the goals on the agenda.

 

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August Time Management Quick Tip of the Month – Instant Message Does Not Mean Instant Decision

How often have been in a meeting, only to be interrupted by a message on your BlackBerry? Quickly, so as not to be distracting, you "thumb" an answer. During the course of the meeting, how many people do you notice doing exactly the same thing? Is this really good? Paul Strassmann, former director of defense information at the Defense Department, and now an independent consultant, is more a foe than a friend of handheld devices. When people reach for their little devices and begin thumbing during a meeting, he is offended. Pulling out a BlackBerry during a policy review or a board meeting shows disrespect, he says. "These people who constantly twitch and thumb should be listening." Strassmann is convinced that reliance on electronic gadgets often leads to hurried and bad decisions. "BlackBerries encourage knee-jerk reactions," he notes. He is right. Often, you are already involved in an important task when your BlackBerry chirps at you, so instead of thinking carefully, you just fire off an answer that might do more harm than good. It would be better to promise a later response than to offer an immediate, poorly conceived one.