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Breaking Away from Meeting Monotony

Boring Meeting

Meeting Monotony Madness

Meeting MonotonyThe more senior your position, the more meetings you attend.  When it comes to business meetings, most executives might apply the old adage about the opposite gender: Can’t live with ’em. Can’t live without ’em.  Studies show that 49% of managers feel that they are wasting at least 3 hours per week in meetings.  Over a year, that adds up to nearly 20 working days that you’ll never get back.  How can you recapture some of that time?

Here’s an Idea

One possible solution comes from a Wall Street Journal Article: No More Angling for the Best Seat; More Meetings Are Stand-Up Jobs.  It discusses how some companies ban sitting to speed things up.  Here’s a video summary.  They don’t mention if the dog in the photo gets a chance to contribute.

HuddleStart The Play Clock

During a football game, plans  are needed for every play.  But there’s no place for conference tables and chairs on the field.  So teams have long used huddles to organize their next play.  There’s a built-in sense of urgency as game rules require a football team to figure things out in less than a minute.  Are there times when you could huddle your team instead of the traditional more formal, drawn out table-and-chairs format?

The Benefits
  1. Faster decisions
  2. Reduced meeting time
  3. Tighter focus on the agenda
The Pitfalls
  • Less written notes
  • Input from some participants could be lost
  • If the devil is in the details you’re more likely to meet him

 

Business HuddleWe’ve Always Done It That Way

The fact that you’ve always scheduled a one-hour, weekly, conference room meeting doesn’t mean you should continue the practice. How may of your meetings would be better served by a stand-up format? Is it possible to cover the routine bullet points in seconds rather than minutes? Are you or your meeting participants using meeting time to use their smart phones under the table?

When it comes to meetings should you be huddling more and sitting less?  When your agenda can be limited to brief updates about progress and obstacles and you’re willing to huddle up or sit down to meet and address  the finer points, consider huddling.

Other Resources

 

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