Many of us complain about the work meetings we have., either because they last a long time, because they become very boring at a certain point, or because there are simply too many of them! This is especially common in large companies, where there are meetings for practically everything.
So if meetings happen everywhere, frequently, and are an important tool for making decisions and communicating information, why are they so poorly perceived?
It is probably because they are not done correctly, but what is the proper way to do them? I had no idea how to answer this question until I came across a TED podcast (a platform where important ideas from different areas are presented) called WorkLife with Adam Grant.
How to revolutionize work meetings
In an episode of the podcast Adam interviews Gordon Smith, co-president and co-COO of the financial company JP Morgan Chase, known as the “hero of meetings”, because he revolutionized the way they are done there, after realizing that so boring and unproductive they were. So he set out to improve them and to do so he made some decisive changes.
These changes can be roughly summarized in the following recommendations for managing a good meeting:
Ask: Is this meeting really necessary?
It is not always necessary to hold a meeting, sometimes by simply sending all participants an email you can see the topic, or if something will be reported you can send the document for reading, etc.
Starts on time and ends on time
On many occasions, we wait for all the guests to arrive at the meeting or for the boss to enter the room, but that not only wastes time waiting and ends the meeting later, but also causes us to lose little. Little by little respect for punctuality.
The guest list is short
If the guest list is very long, that is no longer a meeting, it is a conference and the more people there are, the more difficult it is to reach a consensus and thus resolve the issues that are seen in these meetings. If you want to inform other people of what happens in the meetings, then you must send them the minutes.
Do your homework before going to the meeting
If there will be a presentation for the meeting or some information or document will be discussed, then this information must be sent in advance to everyone so that they can read it and go to the meeting well informed, with the purpose of reviewing only the general ones and addressing any doubts. , comments and questions during the meeting and not waste time explaining everything to those present
Keep meetings short
All of the above points will help to make meetings shorter and more productive, with the intention of using time efficiently and not getting worn out in a large number of meetings that take place every day.
Having improved meetings in the company and obtained good results, Gordon occasionally takes advantage and goes to random meetings to which he was not invited to listen and make sure that the meetings are productive and time is not wasted.
So, if you want to spend less time in meetings and improve productivity in your workplace, you know where to start.
What would be your personal recommendations for having good work meetings?