WEBVTT - Second Cup: 50 not 60

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

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<v Speaker 2>Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to schedule meetings for fifty minutes, not sixty.

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<v Speaker 1>That way, people can get where they're going and more

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<v Speaker 1>meetings can start on time. As I have studied corporate

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<v Speaker 1>schedules over the years, I have been fascinated to see

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<v Speaker 1>how most organizations, or at least most individual people, have

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of default length for their meetings. Some places

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<v Speaker 1>set the default at thirty minutes, but sixty minutes tends

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<v Speaker 1>to be the most common. Because people wind up in

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of meetings, many of these meetings get scheduled

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<v Speaker 1>back to back. This is a problem because if you

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<v Speaker 1>are in a meeting that runs from nine to ten

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<v Speaker 1>and another one that runs from ten to eleven, you

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<v Speaker 1>are expected to be in two different meetings at precisely

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<v Speaker 1>ten am, and if the meetings are in different places,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a physical impossibility. But even if both meetings

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<v Speaker 1>are by video conference, and even if the first ends

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<v Speaker 1>precisely on time, you will still be a minute late

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<v Speaker 1>to the second because it takes a non zero amount

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<v Speaker 1>of time to log in. You also won't have time

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<v Speaker 1>to use the restroom or make any notes about follow

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<v Speaker 1>ups from the first meeting, which means those to dos

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<v Speaker 1>may fade to the back of your mind until they

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<v Speaker 1>urgently boil back up. And of course, mini meetings do

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<v Speaker 1>not end on time. That makes people even later for

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<v Speaker 1>all subsequent meetings, so all meetings after the first start

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<v Speaker 1>in a discombobulated way, as you do decide whether to

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<v Speaker 1>wait for the late comers or shift the agenda accordingly. Fortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a comparatively easy problem to solve. Indeed, it

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<v Speaker 1>is a problem that most high schools have solved. You

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<v Speaker 1>need to create a passing period between scheduled events so

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<v Speaker 1>people can get from one commitment to another. If you

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<v Speaker 1>are in a leadership role at your organization, one obvious

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<v Speaker 1>way to do this is to set the norm of

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<v Speaker 1>having meetings start on the hour and end at ten minutes.

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<v Speaker 2>Until the hour. That is, they are.

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<v Speaker 1>All fifty minutes long instead of sixty minutes long. That way,

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<v Speaker 1>even participants with back to back meetings aren't inevitably late

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<v Speaker 1>for all of their meetings of the day.

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<v Speaker 2>Except the first.

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<v Speaker 1>You can even encourage staff to adjust their outlook settings

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<v Speaker 1>to shorten the duration of all events. So that meetings

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<v Speaker 1>default to a specific amount of time before the hour.

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<v Speaker 1>A few organizations choose a corollary to this idea, that is,

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<v Speaker 1>all meetings start ten minutes after the hour and end

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<v Speaker 1>on the hour. That can also work, but it is

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<v Speaker 1>slightly less intuitive to explain to people outside the organization.

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<v Speaker 1>So I like on the hour and ending ten minutes

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<v Speaker 1>till now. It is true that fifty minutes is less

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<v Speaker 1>than sixty minutes, and if you were accustomed to filling

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<v Speaker 1>every single one of those sixty minutes efficiently in all

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<v Speaker 1>of your meetings, then you may have to rethink things.

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<v Speaker 1>But in my experience, there are very few corporate meetings

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<v Speaker 1>that were scheduled for sixty minutes but that could not

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<v Speaker 1>take fifty Indeed, since many meetings start late because of

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<v Speaker 1>latecomers from previs meetings, the material may often be taking

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<v Speaker 1>closer to fifty minutes. Anyway, as people get antsy once

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<v Speaker 1>the clock strikes the hour and they know they need

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<v Speaker 1>to go to the next thing. Best to acknowledge this now.

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<v Speaker 1>If you are not in a leadership role, this might

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<v Speaker 1>be a bit harder to establish, but you can certainly

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<v Speaker 1>make it happen for any meetings that are under your control.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know people are going to be late, plan

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<v Speaker 1>on starting at five minutes after the hour and then

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<v Speaker 1>end ten minutes before. Yep, that means turning your sixty

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<v Speaker 1>minute meetings into forty five minute ones. But hey, you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to this podcast. You thrive on doing things effectively.

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<v Speaker 1>I am betting that you could figure it out. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>in the grand scheme of things, it.

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<v Speaker 2>Would be better to just have fewer meetings.

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<v Speaker 1>Ideally, when a meeting happens, it is because something needs

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<v Speaker 1>to change in the world that can only result from

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<v Speaker 1>bringing those people together. The length of the meeting is

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<v Speaker 1>determined by what needs to happen, and not by some

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<v Speaker 1>arbitrary clock time. If you need twenty minutes, you set

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting for twenty minutes. If you need thirty seven

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<v Speaker 1>point five minutes, you ask for that, and everyone is

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<v Speaker 1>going to assume your agenda is incredibly well thought through.

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<v Speaker 1>But if that is not going to happen, the next

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<v Speaker 1>best solution is to shorten all meetings just a little.

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<v Speaker 1>People won't be late, they can catch their breath, they

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<v Speaker 1>can think about what just happened, and then they can

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<v Speaker 1>start the next thing. This is a fairly simple fix

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<v Speaker 1>that can have a big impact in terms of increasing

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<v Speaker 1>focus and avoiding a sense of being overwhelmed. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's.

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<v Speaker 2>To making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 1>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 1>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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