Meeting 2023 Head On! Not for the faint hearted!

Let me start by being very open and transparent. I love to attend meetings that are well designed. It inspires me and motivates me. But the reality is, these seldom happen. The reality of the other side of the coin is that I dislike meetings that waste time and energy of anyone involved. And dislike, is to be very diplomatic. I question meetings. If I do not understand the value add for me and for others, I immediately decline the meeting. If there are no agenda and notes circulating before the meeting, explaining the reason and contribution needed, I also decline. For a long time, I thought I was rude and should not have this perspective on meetings, especially in previous roles I occupied. I have seen the difference between well planned meetings and badly planned meetings. I have noticed the incredible results of planned meetings. I saw the effect on the motivation of people, the productivity of companies. I therefore decided to stick to my values around meetings.

According to various research, the statistics are clear, 67-80% of meetings fail in its purpose. CEO’s believe that 45% of meetings are pointless. Can you image, 45% of your meetings, you can scrap and focus on the “real” work? 47% of employees say Mondays are the worst day to have meetings.

The reality is that there is no perfect meeting. We cannot all contribute all the time. But at least you want to gain clarity and be inspired where possible.

In 2022 I heard crazy stories around meetings. Here are a few.

  1. People book meetings in other colleagues’ calendar when they have the visibility to see that the team member has another meeting booked at the same time.
  2. Stakeholders go on with scheduled meetings, when the decision makers have cancelled the meeting.
  3. Some staff have 3 meetings scheduled at the same time, but no one gave them any idea what they need to prepare etc.

Can you image the stress this must cause for these individuals? Not even mentioning the time and energy wasted.

Let me pause and ask you a few questions:

  • What percentage of meetings inspired you in 2022?
  • Why did it inspire you?
  • How many meetings did you walk out of and thought, “that was a waste of time”?
  • Why did it waste your time?

If 2023 will look different than 2022, then we have to start with the way we design our usage of time. And this includes meetings. There are various types of meetings. Every meeting has a different purpose. Actionable steps should form part of every type of meeting. This will ensure action is taken and progress occurs.

A few types are listed below.

  1. To communicate mission, vision, purpose and meaning.
  2. To ensure alignment and focus.
  3. Explorative/Innovative/Creative. To brainstorm and design.
  4. Development/Growth. This mainly happens through team building and one-on-one meetings.
  5. Check-in. To monitor progress and make adjustments where need be. Problem solving forms part of these meetings.

Here are a few tips to manage meetings more effectively in 2023.

Attending meetings.

  1. Say only “Yes” to meetings where the agenda and notes are clear prior to the meeting. Explain why you are not accepting the invite or what you need to be able to attend. Ask for the notes, slides, recording to be shared if you cannot attend.
  2. Take time to plan for the meeting. This will ensure an enriching conversation.
  3. Meet for what is needed. Some meetings can be an email, others need people around the same table.
  4. Give your input before the meeting.

Leading meetings.

  1. Take time to design the meetings. Plan not only the agenda but specific times for interactions.
  2. Design it to be inspirational, relational and performance driven. Certain meetings lend themselves more towards one of these 3 areas. Balancing the 3 is the most important art to learn.
  3. Give time to others to give input into the meetings.
  4. Keep to the time and always plan to end earlier.
  5. End with next steps, timelines and responsibilities.
  6. Block time to take action as soon as possible after the meeting. I heard of one Executive who always blocks 15 min after her meetings. She uses the time to get all the actions done before entering another meeting. That is a productive design.

Remember what Peter Drucker said “Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better”. May you meet 2023 head on, with boldness, passion and focus.

This blog was written by Cias Ferreira.

For any questions or consultation on meeting design, please contact our office at office@xpand-sa.com