WEBVTT - You are not a middle schooler changing classes

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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 you are not a middle school student

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<v Speaker 1>changing classes, so don't go passively from thing to thing

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<v Speaker 1>in your schedule without focusing on what each meeting accomplishes.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most frequent concerns I hear from listeners

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<v Speaker 1>is that their workdays are consumed by back to back meetings,

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<v Speaker 1>so there's no time to get their actual work done.

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<v Speaker 1>They become like middle schoolers changing classes, going from your

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<v Speaker 1>one o'clock to your two o'clock, to your three o'clock

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<v Speaker 1>to your four o'clock things that have just appeared on

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<v Speaker 1>your schedule and that you have no say over. I

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<v Speaker 1>underst stand that frustration. It boggles my mind how much

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<v Speaker 1>staff time businesses are willing to spend on meetings without

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<v Speaker 1>considering the actual return on investment. If you are an

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<v Speaker 1>organizational leader, do a time audit and figure out how

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<v Speaker 1>much time your team is spending in meetings. You may

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<v Speaker 1>be able to cut this time significantly by being a

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<v Speaker 1>bit more judicious on how long meetings are, who attends,

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<v Speaker 1>and whether any given meeting is actually necessary. But If

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<v Speaker 1>your organization's meeting schedule is not up to you, you

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<v Speaker 1>still can be intentional about your own participation. It can

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<v Speaker 1>be easy to acquiesce to a calendar full of meetings

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<v Speaker 1>that you didn't schedule, so you wind up tramping through

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<v Speaker 1>a day like a middle school or changing classes. But

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<v Speaker 1>that may not help you accomplish your core work. So

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<v Speaker 1>here's a few ways of avoiding it. First, to the extent,

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<v Speaker 1>you can be selective about what appointments you make. Just

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<v Speaker 1>because you received a calendar indentation doesn't mean you need

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<v Speaker 1>to go to the meeting. Could someone else from your

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<v Speaker 1>team go, Could you just read the minutes? Does this

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<v Speaker 1>topic need a meeting at all? Or could you handle

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<v Speaker 1>it through email or within the context of another existing meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are new to your company or junior, you

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<v Speaker 1>may have less ability to decline a meeting or delegate it,

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<v Speaker 1>but you may still be able to avoid some meetings

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<v Speaker 1>by accomplishing their goals before the meeting is supposed to happen.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, if the meeting purpose is to start planning

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<v Speaker 1>an orientation for new program participants, and you send a

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<v Speaker 1>draft agenda for the orientation before the scheduled meeting, the

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<v Speaker 1>project leader may decide you don't actually need to meet

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<v Speaker 1>after all, or you might be able to address the

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<v Speaker 1>topic of a planned meeting during your regular one on

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<v Speaker 1>one meeting with your boss and then avoid the other meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition to being choosy about which meetings you attend,

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<v Speaker 1>I also recommend being intentional about what the times you

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<v Speaker 1>schedule meetings for. Maybe you aim to schedule meetings in

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<v Speaker 1>the afternoon or at the end of the week so

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<v Speaker 1>you can leave mornings or the beginning of the week

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<v Speaker 1>for deep work. There are also ways to make the

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<v Speaker 1>most of the meetings you do go to. If you

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<v Speaker 1>are leading a meeting, create an agenda circulated in advanced

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<v Speaker 1>so everyone arrives prepared. If someone else is leading the meeting,

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<v Speaker 1>request the agenda in advance offered a draft one if

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<v Speaker 1>nothing seems forthcoming. If nothing else, your agenda will make

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting more useful. For every meeting you do go to,

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<v Speaker 1>think through what you need to get out of it.

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<v Speaker 1>After all, the purpose of gathering people is to change

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<v Speaker 1>something in the world, So what should be the outcome?

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<v Speaker 1>What questions do you need answered, What action steps need

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<v Speaker 1>to be planned? Think about who else be at the meeting.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there anything you need to touch base about during

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<v Speaker 1>and immediately after the meeting? Make notes for yourself and

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<v Speaker 1>communicate with anyone else you need to about next steps.

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<v Speaker 1>You may be able to complete some action steps within

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<v Speaker 1>the scheduled time for the meeting itself. That can leave

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<v Speaker 1>at least some time open in the rest of your schedule.

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<v Speaker 1>The big idea here is that going passively from meeting

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<v Speaker 1>to meeting does nothing for you or your employer. You

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<v Speaker 1>need to make sure you're using meetings to advance your

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<v Speaker 1>own and your team's goals. Otherwise you are just changing

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<v Speaker 1>classes passing the time rather than doing something with it,

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<v Speaker 1>and time is just too valuable for that. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.