Oh, No, Not More Meetings!

Do you look forward to meetings at your workplace, or do you dread them? This is regardless of whether you just attend them or you actually convene and chair them.

Nail-the-meeting

For those who dread meetings at your workplace, why? If you say that they are a waste of time, how did they turn out to be so, and what can you do to turn them around? We know that meetings are about accountability, right? Or are they? For me, there are only three purposes for meetings. If your meetings don’t fit, then you’re right, you’re wasting your time. These three purposes are:

1.  Face-to-face clarifications where required, especially where cross-cultural, cross-functional and cross-disciplinary groups are working together on a project, and they can’t understand some of the workings within the team.

2.  Generative discussions, where everyone in the meeting is thoroughly updated and conversant with the latest situation vis-a-vis the ongoing project. This includes adjacent and peripheral intelligence about other projects which may affect or support the ongoing one.

3.  Decision making, where everyone is conversant with all the options presented, are clear that all options are feasible, and are committed to throw their weight behind the final decision, whatever it may be.

Any meeting that does not have any of these is a waste of time. Meetings are not meant for updates, you go get yourself updated and conversant before the meeting takes place!

Do you have any more to add? Write and tell us!

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