WEBVTT - Stick to the agenda

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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 about how to make sure meetings and done

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<v Speaker 1>time and accomplish what they are supposed to do even

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<v Speaker 1>if you are not in charge. There are ways to

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<v Speaker 1>help everyone stick to the agenda and avoid wasting time.

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<v Speaker 1>So meetings are necessary when decisions need to be made,

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<v Speaker 1>it is unlikely that everyone will magically show up at

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<v Speaker 1>the same time with the right preparation to make those decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>That said, I don't need to tell anyone who listens

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<v Speaker 1>to this podcast that many organizations have too many meetings

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<v Speaker 1>and those meetings are often less of effective than they

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<v Speaker 1>could be. That is a problem because if you waste

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<v Speaker 1>your own time, that is one thing. If he brings

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<v Speaker 1>six people to gather and waste their time, that gets

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more costly. One of the biggest problems with

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<v Speaker 1>meetings is that the discussions aren't focused until the last

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes when people finally realize that they need to

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<v Speaker 1>get moving, which inevitably makes people late for the next thing.

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<v Speaker 1>The best way to avoid that is to stick to

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<v Speaker 1>the agenda, making sure you have plenty of time for

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<v Speaker 1>whatever the most important part of the discussion will be.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, this requires that there be an agenda. Every

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<v Speaker 1>meeting needs a purpose that is a desired outcome and

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<v Speaker 1>an agenda meaning how you will use your time to

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<v Speaker 1>gather to achieve that desired outcome. Hopefully your meeting has one,

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<v Speaker 1>but if not, get in the habit of creating a

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<v Speaker 1>time before all meetings you run for creating agenda and

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<v Speaker 1>then sending it out. Ideally at least twenty four hours before.

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<v Speaker 1>The agenda should say what is being covered and how

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<v Speaker 1>much time is devoted to each thing, with the goal

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<v Speaker 1>of ending a few minutes before the meeting itself is ending.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are not in charge, get in the habit

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<v Speaker 1>of checking at least twenty four hours before any meetings

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<v Speaker 1>to see if there is an agenda, so you know

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<v Speaker 1>what is going to happen. If you don't see one,

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<v Speaker 1>this is when you need to get moving. You can

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<v Speaker 1>reach out to the person organizing the meeting and note

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<v Speaker 1>that you want to be prepared, so you just want

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure you didn't miss the agenda. If the

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<v Speaker 1>person is swamped or high enough up that you can't

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<v Speaker 1>readily do this, ask the person's assistant to help. There

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<v Speaker 1>is never anything wrong with saying you want to be

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<v Speaker 1>prepared for a meeting. Hopefully this will flush out an agenda.

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<v Speaker 1>If not, and it seems appropriate, you can offer to

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<v Speaker 1>help draft one. Reach out to the other people who

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<v Speaker 1>will be there to get an approximate sense of what

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<v Speaker 1>needs to be covered and how much time everyone needs.

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<v Speaker 1>If the person running the meeting is truly overwhelmed at

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<v Speaker 1>the moment, this can be helpful. If you get to

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting and there still is no agenda. If there

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<v Speaker 1>is any sort of icebreaker or introductions at the beginning,

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<v Speaker 1>use your time to check. You can frame this as

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<v Speaker 1>I want to make sure I am most helpful here,

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<v Speaker 1>or I just want to clarify so I am sure

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<v Speaker 1>I brought the right things, and get the organizer to

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<v Speaker 1>pin everything down. If you are running meetings, always appoint

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<v Speaker 1>a timekey. This is someone whose job is to keep

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<v Speaker 1>everyone to the agenda. Now. Obviously, if circumstances warrant it,

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<v Speaker 1>more time could be spent on something, but having a

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<v Speaker 1>timekeeper creates an obvious momentum to move on to the

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<v Speaker 1>next thing. The default is to stay on track, rather

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<v Speaker 1>than to not stay on track. If you aren't running

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting and there is any sort of agenda, offer

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<v Speaker 1>to be the timekeeper. You can just offer this at

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning of the meeting. Would it be helpful if

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<v Speaker 1>I did the timekeeping here? Or you can bring it

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<v Speaker 1>up during any introductions. I'm happy to help keep us

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<v Speaker 1>on track here, as I know some people have things

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<v Speaker 1>right afterwards. Again, it is always framed as being of

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<v Speaker 1>service when people do meander during the meetings. You can

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<v Speaker 1>just nudge things along nicely. Jan, I can get you

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<v Speaker 1>that material right afterwards. Now about the marketing stuff, most

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<v Speaker 1>people probably aren't actively trying to run meandering inefficient meetings.

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<v Speaker 1>They aren't trying to waste people's time, They just aren't

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about it. This is where you can help. But

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<v Speaker 1>if things have been meandering and you're getting toward the

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<v Speaker 1>end of a meeting, you can try to reorient things

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen to twenty minutes before the end by pointing out

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<v Speaker 1>the time. I know we have some people who are

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<v Speaker 1>having to race out after this. I wanted to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure we figured out this and hopefully get everyone back

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<v Speaker 1>on track. Obviously, it takes more work to run a

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with a defined purpose, a solid agenda, and then

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<v Speaker 1>a commitment to stick to the agenda. When we do that,

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<v Speaker 1>we can't have too many meetings, but that's not a

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<v Speaker 1>bad thing. When you bring people together, it should be worthwhile.

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<v Speaker 1>Sticking to the agenda that much more likely. 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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