![\"death-by-meeting\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Death-by-meeting-300x258.jpg\")
that there is something wrong with the enterprise when it takes constant meetings to get the job done?<\/p>\nImagine yourself with a calendar requiring you to be in six meetings in a day.\u00a0 Day after day.\u00a0 How long would it take to induce you to rethink your use of time \u2013 and that of the others sitting (or standing) beside you?\u00a0 More important, how long would it take to realize that there is something wrong with the enterprise when it takes constant meetings to get the job done?<\/p>\n
Slowly in many cases.\u00a0 And expensively.<\/p>\n
The best performers and managers dislike meetings and show their disdain by being abrupt or at the opposite end, distracted.\u00a0 Often the most attentive ones involved in constant meetings are those who feel protected, shielded from measurement of personal performance, or at times less self\u2013motivated to perform.<\/p>\n
And the cost to the company of those meetings?\u00a0 Staggering, if you take into account the lost production time of those present, not just the salary cost.<\/p>\n
[Email readers, continue here…]<\/em> <\/span>And yet, there are times when co\u2013ordination between people and groups requires a meeting, whether in person or over digital channels.\u00a0 So let\u2019s examine ways to make meetings more efficient \u2013 those that are actually required.<\/p>\n The concept of a scrum<\/em> is a good one to use in many cases of immediate need to coordinate a working group.\u00a0 Attendees stand rather than sit, reinforcing the urgency and need for a short meeting.\u00a0 Individuals address issues that are blocking them from completing their tasks, requesting help from the others in removing the blockage.\u00a0 Scrums are effective and should be short, scheduled, and supervised.<\/p>\n Board meetings are often killers.\u00a0 Hardeners of the arteries of progress.\u00a0 Most devolve into a series of reports from each constituency, spewing facts that could have been printed and passed to the board ahead of time.\u00a0 Board meetings should revolve around issues, not progress.\u00a0 Reviewing sales account by account is not an effective use of a board\u2019s collective time.\u00a0 Attacking critical issues after providing background information and perhaps a list of alternatives is a good use of board time.<\/p>\n And if there is little to discuss, perhaps the wisest decision of all is to just cancel the meeting and bank the time saved for more critical use.\u00a0 Certainly, most of us would applaud the decision to return a bit of lost time to its rightful owners.\u00a0 And to avoid the occasional (slow) death by meeting, so common in companies today.<\/p>\n (Cartoon courtesy of LaughChat.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Imagine yourself with a calendar requiring you to be in six meetings in a day.\u00a0 Day after day.\u00a0 How long would it take to induce you to rethink your use of time \u2013 and that of the others sitting (or … Continue reading