WEBVTT - Stop wasting time in meetings 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:06.640 Good morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:12.760 Today's tip is about how to create better meetings. Meetings 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.479 are a necessary tool to do many modern jobs. Other 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.400 people know things that we don't. These people are unlikely 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.479 to show up at our offices unbidden at the exact 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:26.479 moment we wish to see them. They are unlikely to 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.160 be ready to talk about exactly what we wish to discuss, 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:35.120 so we schedule mutually agreeable times to meet. Hence meetings. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:40.320 But like email, meetings are a tool to do our jobs, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.879 they are not the job itself. And as I look 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:47.000 at people's schedules, I see that in many cases there 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.400 are so many meetings that they may as well be 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.800 the job because there's no time to do anything else. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:55.960 That would be fine if every meeting was the best 0:00:55.960 --> 0:01:00.280 possible use of everyone's time, But in an organization with 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.280 a meeting heavy culture, the only way to get people 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.360 to pay attention to a project is to call a meeting. 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:09.880 So then you wind up with meetings that result only 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:14.440 in finding out that yep, everyone is still doing her job. Well, 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.959 maybe because the meeting has been rescheduled twice to accommodate 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.319 the senior person who keeps getting called into other meetings. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.400 To solve that problem of scheduling people, create recurring meetings, 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.880 ones that always happened at the same time. That seems efficient, 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.160 but these meetings then no longer need to justify their 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.520 place on people's calendars, and there can be a lot 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.640 of them. I was giving a speech once where a 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.000 woman stood up to say that she tracked her time 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.400 and studied her calendar and realized that before she even 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.559 got to say over her schedule, she was booked into 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:55.000 one hours of recurring meetings per month. That's about twenty 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.400 five hours per week. So she worked with her manager 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:00.960 and teams and got this down to sixty hours per 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.520 month or about fifteen hours per week. This was being 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:09.000 told as a happy story, but fifteen hours before you 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.880 even get to the one off stuff is a lot. 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:17.320 If you waste your own time, that's one thing, But 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:21.519 a six person meeting wasting six people's time is far 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:27.520 more expensive. Once the second is gone, it's gone. All 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.720 the money in the world will never buy that time back. 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.760 But I do think there are ways to make meetings efficient, effective, 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:40.400 and even pleasurable. The best book I've ever read on 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:45.040 this is called The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. Parker, 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:48.919 who plans events for clients, is often pulling together multi 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.560 day retreats, but a lot of her advice is smart 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:57.160 even for your standard Tuesday morning staff meeting. The first 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.720 step in convening people meaningfully, she writes, is committing to 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:07.320 a bold, sharp purpose. Practically, this means that something needs 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.640 to change in the world as a result of your meeting. 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:16.680 Parker suggests working backward from a desired outcome. This brings 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:19.800 focus to a meeting. She says, it may even help 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.600 a host decide whether a meeting is necessary for that 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:27.040 outcome or whether an email will do. You honor the 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.960 people at your meeting by making sure you're convening them 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:36.080 for a real reason. Second, think about who should be there, 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.920 and just as important, who shouldn't be there. Clearly, you 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.000 aren't going to invite someone who will actively sabotage your meeting. 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.160 But people invite others all the time just to keep 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.880 them informed or be nice, or to avoid having people 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:54.240 feel left out. We think it's collegial. Here's a thought. 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:59.880 Your meeting is not the cool kid's table at the cafeteria. 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.120 People who aren't fulfilling the purpose of your gathering, are 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.680 detracting from it, even if they do nothing to detract 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:12.480 from it, Parker writes, particularly in smaller gatherings, every single 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.560 person affects the dynamic of a group. You want to 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.320 make sure that everyone who is in the room is 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.280 participating for every minute they are there. If that's not 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.279 the case, the meeting should be shorter or have fewer people. 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.000 Or people can come for certain agenda items and then leave. 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:38.599 A good, tight meeting leaves no space for multitasking. Third, 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:43.640 think about the whole flow of the meeting, beginning to end. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.480 It goes without saying that a meeting needs an agenda. 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.960 This means that the host needs to exercise benevolent authority 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.919 to make sure the gathering is moving toward its desired outcome. 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.039 Parker also tells people to pay close attention to the 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:03.920 beginning of a meeting. Often, she laments people start gatherings 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:08.760 with housekeeping and logistics. It seems necessary, but you are 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.839 missing an opportunity to sear your gatherings purpose into the 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:17.280 minds of your guests, she writes. She suggests thinking about 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.680 a hotel lobby or the first line of a novel. 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:26.680 A good opening honors and awes the people being drawn in. 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.159 Maybe that sounds like a bit much for your Tuesday 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.200 morning staff meeting, but you could go around the table 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.200 and have each person share one meaningful thing related to 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:40.480 the topic at hand. This can build trust. Groups that 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:46.960 trust each other produce better outcomes. Endings matter too. Sadly, 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.479 many meetings drag on far too long, with people fidgeting 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.279 and the organizer unsure how to wrap things up or 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:59.040 failing in a different direction. People stop precisely at two 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.440 without changing what they've been gathered to change in the world, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.560 because everyone needs to march like middle schoolers to the 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.800 three o'clock class that inevitably follows the two o'clock class. 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.240 You want to leave with action items, But I also 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.440 like the idea of ending the meeting with feedback. What 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.000 was good about the meeting, what can be changed so 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.320 future meetings are better. We spend so much time in 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:23.920 meetings that anything done to improve them can have a 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:28.800 huge payoff. I know all this planning and intention might 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.880 seem like a lot for a meeting, but that's the point. 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.560 You can't have fourteen meetings like this each day. But 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:40.120 that doesn't mean you should lower your standards. It means 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:44.200 you shouldn't have fourteen meetings a day, So look over 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.240 your schedule and figure out which meetings should be given 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:54.400 loving attention and which need to be put out of 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.679 their misery. I promise you'll soon be feeling less busy 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:03.599 while getting are done. In the meantime, this is Laura. 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.919 Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:16.360 our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.240 You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.600 Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:28.480 Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the number four then 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.960 breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:36.160 email at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.720 that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.400 Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.