if they’re necessary, so be it. but set some guidelines.
by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals
when in doubt, call a meeting. jeez! how many hours in the u.s. are cumulatively wasted on a daily basis with meetings? are they really necessary?
more: busyness isn’t the same as productivity | is your firm’s culture a magnet or a repellent? | building teamwork under covid pressure | make your writing count | etiquette never goes out of style | make news, not noise | take that extra breath with email | effective communications in the age of covid |the new covid-19 workplace: are you prepared?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
if yes, do you employ rules of courtesy, such as strongly encouraging punctuality? do you have a clearly articulated agenda that was distributed in advance of the meeting? if yes, did it provide advance notice about any preparatory work or research expected to be done by the participants? finally, will the meeting be structured in such a way that it will allow for participation by the complete group?
as the leader of the meeting, it will fall on you to plan for a collaborative gathering. it will require that you set expectations and rules for the meeting. the attendees will look around the room and wonder about who is there and why. explain at the beginning why everyone is there, the thinking behind their attendance and what benefit they can bring to the discussion. this will set the tone and provide a level of comfort.
“meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” – john kenneth galbraith
as an extension of your explanation why the meeting was called and the attendees selected, make it clear up front about the parameters of the meeting and the desired goals. in this situation the means justify the ends.
there is no one right way to arrive at achieving the objectives, so allow for everyone’s input.
the next element is focus. forget about email inboxes being filled during this time and focus on this meeting. don’t dredge up feelings of frustration left over from previous meetings. oh, and one other thing: if attendees feel uncomfortable about walking into a meeting without their smart devices, allow them to. just remind them to shut them off. no buzzing, vibrating, jingles, top 40 phone rings – no matter how barely audible they are. in fact, it will do the attendees well to be freed from the electronic chains, if only for the duration of the meeting.
finally, no one or two people should dominate the discussion. if there are concerns or points that take away from the flow of the discussion, move them to a “parking lot” to be discussed in a separate, and if need be, private conversation.
and this should go without saying, but unfortunately, it cannot: pre-empt the desire for side comments when someone is talking. not only is it rude, but an idea or topic can be raised that may help the individual who happens to be engaged in a side conversation.
laptops, tablets and smartphones are today’s tools of the trade. let’s make sure we have common courtesy as another implement in our tool kit.