Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to first ask why, then ask when.
Speaker 1: Getting clear on the purpose of any gathering can help
Speaker 1: make sure that it's a wise use of time. When
Speaker 1: I talk with people about their schedules, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest complaints is that there are way too many meetings now.
Speaker 1: Meetings exist for a reason. Of course, we need to
Speaker 1: collaborate with other people to achieve goals that we couldn't
Speaker 1: have on our own, and the right people to achieve
Speaker 1: those goals are unlikely to randomly show up all together
Speaker 1: at a time when we are best prepared to work
Speaker 1: with them. Scheduling a meeting with certain people for a
Speaker 1: certain time means we can get work done. But oh,
Speaker 1: is there a big but coming. Many organizations rely way
Speaker 1: too heavily on meetings. Every project needs its own weekly
Speaker 1: meetings to make sure people are still doing their jobs
Speaker 1: because there are so many other weekly meetings that a
Speaker 1: meeting is the only way to enforce accountability and deadlines.
Speaker 1: Having half a schedule full of meetings is not at
Speaker 1: all a typical and sometimes between email and meetings days
Speaker 1: get so crowded that any other work has to be
Speaker 1: done at night or on weekends, which can lead to burnout.
Speaker 1: There are many factors at work, but one little check
Speaker 1: can help with lowering the volume. Whenever people start talking
Speaker 1: about meeting, the first question should be why before you
Speaker 1: get to win. That is, when someone says we need
Speaker 1: to meet about the Smith project, the first question should
Speaker 1: not be when is every one free to meet? It
Speaker 1: should be what do we need to decide about the
Speaker 1: Smith Project? In other words, what is the purpose of
Speaker 1: this meeting? Now? There is no need to make this antagonistic.
Speaker 1: It is just a simple question like this, I'd love
Speaker 1: to talk with you about the Smith Project? What are
Speaker 1: we trying to decide? Or I'd love to meet about that.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me a little bit more about what
Speaker 1: you'd like me to help with so I know best
Speaker 1: how to prepare. These are all absolutely legitimate questions. You
Speaker 1: don't want to waste the other person's time either. Asking
Speaker 1: these questions also leads to some good follow up information.
Speaker 1: Maybe you find out that the thing the person needs
Speaker 1: to decide about the Smith project is not actually in
Speaker 1: your purview. You have no power to approve it, and
Speaker 1: so you are not the right person to meet with.
Speaker 1: Good to know before it's on the schedule. Or maybe
Speaker 1: you see that the thing you are supposed to help
Speaker 1: with is in nation you have readily available. You can
Speaker 1: just send it over. No need to meet now. Of course,
Speaker 1: you may see that you really do need to decide
Speaker 1: something together. If so, that is awesome. Now you have
Speaker 1: the skeleton of an agenda for your meeting. You know
Speaker 1: what the outcome needs to be, and so you can
Speaker 1: work backwards to figure out how you will get there
Speaker 1: and how long those steps will take. Not only do
Speaker 1: you know that you do need to meet, you will
Speaker 1: now have a much better meeting. This is an excellent
Speaker 1: and time saving outcome too. I believe this question can
Speaker 1: help even with meeting requests from your supervisor. Yes, asking
Speaker 1: why you are not trying to get out of something.
Speaker 1: You are asking the why so you can do the
Speaker 1: work necessary to have the best meeting possible. This isn't
Speaker 1: rude at all. Indeed, I'd argue that it would be
Speaker 1: rude not to assist your busy supervisor by trying to
Speaker 1: figure this all out. When you have a good why,
Speaker 1: you can then enthusiastically find a time on the schedule
Speaker 1: that works, and you know you won't spend the first
Speaker 1: ten minutes of the meeting figuring out why you're meeting
Speaker 1: and sometimes discovering, to everyone's annoyance that you really didn't
Speaker 1: need to meet at all. Better to ask that question
Speaker 1: up front and avoid those bad feelings that didn't have
Speaker 1: to happen in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.