WEBVTT - Consider all the meeting dimensions

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that if you want to improve your meetings,

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<v Speaker 1>consider all the meeting dimensions. Today's tip comes from organizational

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<v Speaker 1>behavior and meetings expert Rebecca Hines, who is a guest

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<v Speaker 1>on this podcast. A few months ago, she offered some

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<v Speaker 1>practical advice for planning better meetings. Rebecca identified four key

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<v Speaker 1>dimensions of meetings, length, cadence, attendees, and agenda. With regard

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<v Speaker 1>to length, she suggested not just scheduling meetings for a

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<v Speaker 1>half hour or an hour because those are the default

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<v Speaker 1>in your calendar. Instead, consider how long the meeting actually

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<v Speaker 1>needs to accomplish your goals. I would add that if

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<v Speaker 1>you were in a workplace where people tend to have

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of back to back meetings and hence are

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<v Speaker 1>often running late or at least need time to transition,

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<v Speaker 1>it can be helpful to start your meetings at say ten,

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<v Speaker 1>ten or one forty, that is a few minutes after

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<v Speaker 1>people will likely be getting out of their last meetings.

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<v Speaker 1>That way, your meetings might actually start on time. The

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<v Speaker 1>second meeting dimension Rebecca identified was cadence. Are you meeting

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<v Speaker 1>more frequently than you need to? If so, stretching out

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<v Speaker 1>the cadence could free up time for people to do

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<v Speaker 1>the tasks that were assigned to them in the last meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>It is also possible, though more rare, that a recurring

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<v Speaker 1>meeting isn't happening frequently enough. Maybe there tends to be

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<v Speaker 1>time with no progress between meetings because people are waiting

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<v Speaker 1>until the next meeting to get guidance on next steps.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to be sure you're a meeting as often

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<v Speaker 1>as you need to, but no more. The third meeting

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<v Speaker 1>dimension is attendees figure out who actually needs to be

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<v Speaker 1>in the meeting based on who has the needed information

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<v Speaker 1>and who is making the decision. You don't want people

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<v Speaker 1>to be in a meeting when they are not adding

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<v Speaker 1>value or getting value from it. I have heard it

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<v Speaker 1>said that meetings don't need spectators, and I agree. As

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<v Speaker 1>others have pointed out, you can get information from additional

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<v Speaker 1>people before and after the meeting if needed. The final

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<v Speaker 1>dimension Rebecca identified is the agenda. Determine what needs to

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<v Speaker 1>be addressed in the meeting and what could be handled

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<v Speaker 1>in email, quick conversations, or by other means. Rebecca says

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<v Speaker 1>you need a meeting only if the purpose is to decide, debate, discuss,

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<v Speaker 1>or develop. If you are a meeting planner or leader,

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<v Speaker 1>you can make your meetings more productive by thinking about

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<v Speaker 1>these four dimensions. Now, if you're an attendee rather than

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<v Speaker 1>the planner, you may not have influence over all of

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<v Speaker 1>these dimensions, but they still might be helpful for you

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<v Speaker 1>to consider. For instance, you can request an agenda and

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<v Speaker 1>in some cases you could then decide whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>you will attend based on whether or not you will

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<v Speaker 1>add value. A meeting is not an end in itself.

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<v Speaker 1>Meetings are tools to do your job. By thinking about

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<v Speaker 1>the length, the cadence, the attendees, and the agenda, you

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<v Speaker 1>can increase the chances that the meeting actually helps you

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<v Speaker 1>to do your job, rather than being a drag on

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<v Speaker 1>your productivity. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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