How to Craft Meetings People Love (Really)
We open today on a familiar scene: After a
long day of back-to-back meetings, Bob arrives home to find his wife, Jane, who
also has just returned from work, starting to prepare dinner. As Bob rolls up
his sleeves to begin chopping carrots, they talk about their day.
Bob: I
am just exhausted.
Jane: What did you do today?
Bob: I
was in meetings all day.
Jane:
Yes, but what did you do?
Bob
(exasperated): I just told you, I was in meetings all
day!
Jane:
And I asked you: What did you do?!
This actual conversation is one that a
colleague shared with me. It took him a moment to realize what his wife was
getting at, but her point was this: He was tired and frustrated from hours of
meetings because he didn’t perceive that he’d actually “done” anything. For
him, work was what happened between meetings.
At their worst, meetings are like short
prison sentences that have you counting the minutes until your release. Yet
there are meetings that are useful and productive, and even invigorating and
enjoyable.
In my work, I have found three types of
meetings that exemplify variations on best practices and are worth emulating:
The
breakfast club.
I once
worked for someone who gathered her direct reports each Friday for breakfast at
a local greasy spoon. We were eager to come in early and pay for our meals
ourselves because this was our chance to get her download on the senior
management meeting with her boss that was held each Thursday.
My boss was a savvy operator, which was
essential at this particular organization: She understood that her influence
and success were directly tied to the ability of her team to navigate the
political shoals around us. We needed to know who was allied with whom and what
larger plans were afoot in order to do our jobs well. We met off-site so we
could ask tough questions and offer unvarnished reactions. The meeting also
added a bit of a clandestine air to our jobs that made the information seem
even more valuable: We were getting the “inside scoop.”
It is essential for your people to know that
you have their backs — remembering, of course, that there is some information
that you may not be able to share. The breakfast club made it clear that our
boss had our interests in mind and also emphasized that she was not playing
favorites with information distribution. We also built enduring camaraderie
that persisted even after she left the organization.
The
editorial scrum.
The Economist recently
published an account of its Monday morning
editorial meetings in which stories are pitched, the cover is planned, and the
weekly magazine’s position on global events are debated. It’s the kind of
meeting that will get your blood running at the start of the week. I have never
attended this particular meeting (I’d jump at the chance), though I have
attended other editorial gatherings. The best of them are freewheeling affairs
with honest and intense debate.
What
makes the Economist’s meeting so productive is its egalitarian
nature. Rank is put aside and everyone is encouraged to contribute: “The whole
paper meets, and anyone —
from
the newest intern to the most senior editor —
can put forward and write a leader [article]. What matters is not a
contributor’s seniority, but the strength and quality of his or her arguments,”
Amanda Coletta wrote.
Imagine
if other organizations — perhaps yours — followed that practice. Engagement
would rise among meeting attendees because they would invest in the discussion.
Biases could be mitigated and differing opinions offered and challenged. People
would hone their critical thinking and constructive
argument skills. Decision quality would improve.
The
focus session.
Every
morning since September 12, 2001, a wide array of stakeholders in safety and
security at Boston Logan International Airport meet to share information about
the day’s likely events. Rocked by the 9/11 attacks, officials decided that
optimizing collaboration and coordination among the various agencies and
companies at the airport would be critical to improving security. Unlike most
such noble initiatives, this one has persisted — seven days a week for sixteen
years and counting. The day I attended as a guest, about 70 people were there.
This is not a compulsory meeting for most. They continue to come because they
find it valuable.
The meeting centers on whatever is likely to
have an impact on the airport that day or in the immediate future: the return
home of a championship sports team, an impending storm, construction, or an
intelligence alert. The meeting is a crisp, no-nonsense round robin of reports.
Anything relevant to the group is welcome. “Nothing today” is also an
acceptable contribution, minimizing the temptation to fill airtime with pro
forma statements. The meeting lasts not one minute less or more than necessary.
It can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour.
It is a highly efficient way to connect,
share, receive information, and ask questions. The meeting has also been a key
component of building an enduring culture where collaboration and coordination
across organizational boundaries is the norm, eliminating back-channel
networking that can lead to information gaps and misunderstandings. Many
organizations could benefit from such a vehicle.
Although these three meeting types are all
very different, at their core, they share some essential concepts.
• Get
the basics right.
Invite
the right people — and only the right people. Be clear about the purpose,
format, necessary decisions to be made, and desired outcome. Craft social
norms that align with those parameters. Start
on time and keep on track.
• Take
a systems view.
Relevant
information needs to flow to the right people at the right time if smart
decisions are to be made. Worthwhile gatherings facilitate that flow, minimize
filters and speculation, and enhance group cohesion. At the Logan Airport
meeting, that involves pushing information out efficiently across the
enterprise; at the Economist, it is about drawing great ideas in.
• Make
sure it’s the best vehicle.
If it
is important for people to get the information at the same time or if you want
some back-and-forth dialog, a meeting is the right call. Don't put a dozen (or
70) people in a room if they could more easily digest the information reading
asynchronously. At the breakfast club meeting, reactions and discussion were as
important as the senior management intel itself.
• Know
the ROI.
Even
on-site meetings have costs (and I’m not talking about the bagels). Calculate
the rough salary equivalent for the hours that people are there and estimate
the return on that investment — for each participant, not just the convener.
What is each person contributing and what is he or she getting in return? What
is the payback to the organization? One way to find out if people feel a
meeting is worthwhile is to make it optional — and see who shows up.
Meetings punctuate the rhythm of our
organizational lives; in some cases, they seem to be an end in themselves. But
the meetings described above are a worthwhile investment of time, talent, and
energy. Attendees both got and gave value. That's how you craft meetings people
love.
May
1, 2017
Eric J. McNulty
https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/How-to-Craft-Meetings-People-Love-Really
No comments:
Post a Comment