WEBVTT - Second Cup: Try a double header

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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 to try a double header. If you are

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<v Speaker 1>meeting with the same person or people twice in short succession,

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<v Speaker 1>consolidate both agendas into one meeting, make it a double header,

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<v Speaker 1>and free up some uninterrupted time for something else. In

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<v Speaker 1>many organizations, it can be quite common to meet with

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<v Speaker 1>the same people twice in a week or so. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you are collaborating with the same people on multiple projects,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe you are working on a client project together,

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<v Speaker 1>but you are also jointly running a brown bag lunch

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<v Speaker 1>series for the department. You know how this goes. What

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<v Speaker 1>tends to happen is that we view all our projects

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<v Speaker 1>as completely separate, and when we need to meet with

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<v Speaker 1>people for each project, the meetings get scheduled separately. This

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<v Speaker 1>certainly happens when we are scheduling our own meetings, but

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<v Speaker 1>it happens with assistance too, because they are probably thinking

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<v Speaker 1>of projects separately as well. Have I set up meetings

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<v Speaker 1>for a project A and project B this week? Great,

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<v Speaker 1>I am doing what I am supposed to do, So

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<v Speaker 1>what winds up happening? Is that you and Bob and

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<v Speaker 1>Kara may be working together on Project A and Project B,

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<v Speaker 1>and you may have a meeting about each project in

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<v Speaker 1>a given week. Maybe you and Kara are also working

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<v Speaker 1>together on Project C, so you have a third meeting

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<v Speaker 1>with her. You are spending a lot of time with Kara.

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<v Speaker 1>That is not a bad thing. But as I point

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<v Speaker 1>out in my forthcoming book, Tranquility by Tuesday, if you

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<v Speaker 1>plan your life in weeks, you will see this more clearly.

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<v Speaker 1>As you survey your landscape for the upcoming you will

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<v Speaker 1>see that you have multiple meetings with the same people.

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<v Speaker 1>Recognizing that you have more than one meeting with the

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<v Speaker 1>same people creates an opportunity to consolidate these get togethers.

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<v Speaker 1>You can do a double header most of the time.

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<v Speaker 1>If you consolidate meetings, you won't need the full amount

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<v Speaker 1>of time you scheduled for the two individual meetings. Say

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<v Speaker 1>you have two hour long meetings with Bob and Kara,

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<v Speaker 1>one about Project DAY and one about Project B. You

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<v Speaker 1>will probably be able to conduct the business of both

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<v Speaker 1>those meetings in an hour and a half. At most,

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<v Speaker 1>it will be an hour and forty five minutes. It's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty easy to see why every single meeting exacts transaction costs.

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<v Speaker 1>There is often time spent waiting for late comers. There

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<v Speaker 1>is the time spent getting organized and chit chatting. In

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<v Speaker 1>a consolidated meeting, all of this happens once, not twice

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<v Speaker 1>or more. You may need less time for wrap up

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the meeting too, since you aren't

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<v Speaker 1>actually parting at the end of the first chunk of material,

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<v Speaker 1>you are plowing right into the second matter. What's more,

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<v Speaker 1>meetings tend to expand or contract to fill the available time,

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<v Speaker 1>so if you have an hour and a half budgeted

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<v Speaker 1>for this double header, you will probably make it work.

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<v Speaker 1>So by consolidating the two meetings, you end up saving

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen to thirty minutes. Even better, you save yourself the

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<v Speaker 1>individual transaction costs of stopping other work and then restarting

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<v Speaker 1>it afterwards. Your schedule will be less chopped up, so

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<v Speaker 1>you will have more time available for what productivity expert

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<v Speaker 1>cal Newport calls deep work. Now, as you study your schedule,

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<v Speaker 1>you may find that some of the meetings you can

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<v Speaker 1>consolidate are recurring meetings. That means that the few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>it takes to adjust your schedules and find a consolidated

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<v Speaker 1>meeting time. Once we'll pay off in less total time

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<v Speaker 1>and meetings every single week. That is a definite win.

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<v Speaker 1>So if we envision our scenario with Bob and Kara,

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<v Speaker 1>you could picture that the three of you do a

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<v Speaker 1>double header on project day and Project B. Then you

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<v Speaker 1>say goodbye to Bob and you and Kara stick around

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<v Speaker 1>to chat about Project C. Even more efficiencies are achieved.

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<v Speaker 1>One easy entry point to this scheduling concept is to

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<v Speaker 1>do a double header after any all staff or all

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<v Speaker 1>department meetings that you may be required to attend. If

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<v Speaker 1>you need to do a weekly meeting with Mary, and

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<v Speaker 1>you and Mary are both at the department meeting, you

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<v Speaker 1>can stack the meeting with Mary right after it ends.

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<v Speaker 1>That way, if the meeting ends early, you and Mary

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<v Speaker 1>can start early rather than kicking around for ten minutes

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<v Speaker 1>looking for something else small to do. Or if the

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<v Speaker 1>meeting runs late, neither of you will be inconvenienced waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for the other. Now, to be clear, double headers are

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<v Speaker 1>about rescheduling existing meetings. I am not suggesting setting up

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<v Speaker 1>new meetings. In general, most people need to be in

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<v Speaker 1>far fewer meetings than they are currently in. I suggest

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<v Speaker 1>taking a good look at whether all your recurring meetings

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<v Speaker 1>actually need to happen. But if they do, a double

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<v Speaker 1>header can save some time. It may require a little

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<v Speaker 1>work to figure out the logistics, but you know this

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<v Speaker 1>isn't rocket science. If a different person is leading project A,

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<v Speaker 1>then is leading Project B. Just switch who is leading

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting in the middle. Agree to the agenda in

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<v Speaker 1>advance so everything is adequately covered. But hopefully you are

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<v Speaker 1>doing that already with your meetings. If necessary, you could

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<v Speaker 1>switch which project comes first week to week in case

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<v Speaker 1>there is any concern about people feeling fresh or trying

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<v Speaker 1>to rush through things. But given the benefits, I think

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<v Speaker 1>it is worth a little trial and error to make

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<v Speaker 1>it work. If you try a double header meeting, I

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<v Speaker 1>would love to hear how it goes. You can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 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. Hey everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at before Breakfast Pod that's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four. Then Breakfast Pod You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters,

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<v Speaker 1>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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