WEBVTT - Second Cup: Schedule time for follow up 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.720 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:15.480 Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:21.079 Today's tip is that following up after a meeting is 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.520 a distinct task from attending the meeting. You need to 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.440 schedule time for following up if it's going to get done. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.720 From studying time logs, I know that so many knowledge 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:38.600 workers spend the bulk of their days in meetings. It 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.440 is easy to wind up going from meeting to meeting, 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:46.040 like middle schoolers changing classes. You go to your two o'clock, 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:50.680 your three o'clock, you're four o'clock without thinking through the 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:55.480 implications and next steps from any of it. This is 0:00:55.560 --> 0:01:00.480 problematic because for a meeting to be worthwhile, it needs 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.280 to have an impact on the world outside the meeting. 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.480 That means that most participants will need to do something 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.840 afterwards to make sure the meeting has achieved its purpose. 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.280 The only way to make sure this happens is to 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:19.520 schedule time for it. Otherwise you won't follow up in 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:24.800 a timely fashion, or you might forget until the next meeting. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:29.000 There are two general ways to do this following up. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.200 One option is to schedule fifteen minutes or so after 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.720 each meeting as a follow up block. Increase or decrease 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.600 the length of the follow up block, depending on what 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:45.320 seems necessary for different types of meetings. If you get 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.520 to the end of your allocated time but haven't finished 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.200 all of your follow up tasks, add the specific tasks 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.760 you haven't done yet to your to do list for 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:59.880 the day or the week. I personally like this idea 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:05.280 because following up immediately afterwards means you've got momentum. You 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:09.520 also won't forget what you agreed to do, your to 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:14.480 do list won't keep growing during the day. Plus, this 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.200 rule has the side effect of meaning you can't fill 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.800 a whole day with meetings, so you will have to 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:25.760 be more judicious about which meetings happen. That sounds like 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.880 a pretty good idea to me. However, I know that 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.200 a lot of people view a meeting as an hour 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.560 and the next hour is fair game for something else. 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:40.800 If there is no convincing you otherwise, or there's no 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.920 way to avoid it, then you need to do something 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.000 else to make sure you don't forget or lose urgency. 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.440 Probably the best way to solve this problem is to 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.359 add things to your task list during the meeting itself. 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.480 You still need to schedule another time later for follow up, 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.760 but at least you won't be danger of forgetting anything 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.000 as you race off to your next meeting. But and 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:08.919 I am serious here, the meeting follow up time still 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.120 needs to happen. If you have more than one meeting 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:18.799 every work day, then meeting follow up should probably be 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:24.000 a recurring task on each day's to do list schedule. 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.320 Sometime maybe an hour that you have opened later in 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.480 the day or forty five minutes after the last meeting 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:35.040 has ended. To go back through your meeting notes, either 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.720 do the tasks you have written down or schedule a 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:43.080 future time for any major tasks. You can review the 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.440 notes as a whole and think through any additional follow 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:51.680 up activities that might be valuable. Whichever approach you take, 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.280 the point is that you need to treat following up 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:57.840 from a meeting as a distinct task from going to 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:03.720 the meeting, because it is simply having attended the meeting 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.360 probably doesn't mean you are done with that meeting, So 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.120 have a plan for what you need to do and 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.960 when you will get it done. And now a related tip, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:19.360 if you are leading a meeting, you can help ensure 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:23.400 the team follows up by walking through the expected next steps. 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.599 You can invite people to reflect back what needs to 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:33.120 happen between now and our next meeting or something like that. Then, 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.640 as attendees reflect on what they need to do, you 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:41.040 can make sure their lists tie in with yours. Calling 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.840 attention to the fact that there are follow ups might 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.039 nudge your attendees to make time to deal with these matters, 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:53.320 or at least one can hope. In any case, during 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.760 the week ahead, make a plan for handling meeting follow 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:01.360 up tasks. When we follow up on meetings, we ensure 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.360 that all the plans and ideas generated during the meetings 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.600 do what they are supposed to do. Otherwise we are 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:12.400 just wasting time and we will never get that time back. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:19.000 In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:29.000 here's to making the moose of our time. Hey everybody, 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.320 I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:35.000 your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.440 me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.440 that's b E the number four then Breakfast p o D. 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.160 You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.720 Podcast at I Heeart media dot Com that before Breakfast 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.320 is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:06:02.520 should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.680 is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.520 from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:17.680 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea.