Let's Fix It: Kill the Weekly Meeting
Dilbert’s
pointy-haired boss goes ballistic when challenged about the value of
the day’s big meeting: “I called this meeting, and it’s not a
meeting until someone’s time gets wasted!”
That’s
not far from the truth, though the motivation for meetings at most
large companies is usually more benign. A few years ago, a leading
technology company saw its profitability and productivity declining.
It surveyed 30,000 employees worldwide to determine how to improve
organizational effectiveness. Employees responded that only 54
percent of the time spent in meetings was time well spent. They cited
unclear meeting purpose, unnecessary standing meetings, overly long
meetings and unnecessary attendees as reasons for unproductive
meetings.
Too
many people get together without really knowing why, simply because
it was on their weekly schedules. Admit it, you’ve been there.
You’ve probably called some of those meetings. I know I have.
What’s
less obvious to people, however, is the ripple effect those
unproductive meetings have on an organization, especially when top
executives meet. My Bain colleague Michael Mankins and his team
analyzed time use at one large company and
found that people there spent 300,000 hours a year just
supporting the weekly executive committee meeting. Using data-mining
tools to analyze the Outlook schedules of everyone in the company,
they found that the executive committee meeting required preparation
and ancillary meetings by unit heads, senior advisers, teams ... and
more teams. You get the point. The meeting prep radiates outward like
a forest fire consuming widening circles of employees.
But
meetings don’t have to get the best of you. You can manage them as
closely as you manage every investment. Here are three things you can
do:
Have
a purpose.
If
you don’t know why you’re meeting, don’t meet! Most valuable
meetings have one of three purposes: inform, discuss or decide.
Before calling a meeting, think about whether you could inform people
through a different medium, or use a tool to reach a decision. And
take
most standing meetings
off
your calendar, because they breed poor habits. If a meeting is truly
the best alternative, be clear on its purpose and desired outcome.
Manage
the invite list.
In
many companies, it’s bad form not to invite lots of people to a
meeting. What people don’t realize is that every additional
attendee adds cost and gets in the way. Remember the Rule
of 7,
which states that every attendee over a total of 7 reduces the
likelihood of making a good, quick, executable decision by 10
percent. Once you hit 16 or 17 people, your potential for decision
effectiveness is close to zero.
Don’t
send delegates to meetings unless the purpose is solely to inform.
Delegates are rarely empowered to actually do something, which means
a “decision” meeting gets turned into a “discuss” meeting,
which requires another decision meeting. If you can’t get the right
people in the room, don’t have the meeting.
Change
the default time.
Not
too long ago, most companies called 30-minute meetings. Now the
typical default time has grown to 60 minutes, even though every
additional minute generates a higher cost. How about a rule that says
if a meeting lasts more than 90 minutes, it requires approval by an
executive who is two levels above the convener?
A
Bain colleague recounted recently how a U.S. undersecretary of
defense in charge of procurement came to her first meeting with
contractors and saw about 60 people in the room. She asked everyone
to say who they were and why they were there. Participants rolled
their eyes but did as she asked.
After
the first two had identified themselves, the undersecretary said,
“Thanks for your interest, but we won’t need you here. You can
excuse yourself.” Others met a similar fate. By the time she got to
the 10th person, others were getting up to leave, knowing they had no
real reason to be there. Eventually the group comprised about 12
members — and the productivity of that meeting rose about fivefold.
Take
a cue from this government leader. Once you do, your teams can focus
on the most important issues, consider alternatives and make the best
choices in the shortest amount of time.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141013220246-169567318-let-s-fix-it-kill-the-weekly-meeting?trk=eml-mktg-inf-m-fixit-1014-p1
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