Meetings! Where Minutes are Kept and Hours are Wasted.

A survey respondent told me, "Meetings are my big timewaster. I have literally spent entire days in meetings. I not only get nothing done at my desk but also inherit additional work. I suppose if I could wish for one thing it would be fewer meetings. Hey, I can dream, can't I?"

Yes! Let's dream a little. Wouldn't it be nice to have a pass that says, "Get Out of a Meeting Free"? Here are some ideas for making your meetings more productive:

Consider the timing. If you're someone with the ability to call a meeting during a certain time, seriously consider the best time to hold it. Corporate America has trained most people to be "morning people." Our natural energy cycles cause us to be "up" or have "prime" time first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, many people insist on holding meetings at that time. Some kinds of meetings are good during prime time, like those involving brainstorming, problem solving, or strategic thinking. Routine staff meetings, project updates, or information-only meetings should be held during lulls in productivity. Similarly, a brainstorming session on Friday afternoon at three o'clock will probably not yield the best results.

Establish a code of conduct for your department or organization. Without a set of "rules" or "protocols" for holding meetings, people do their own thing, creating unpredictability between different meetings. I just facilitated a training session with a corporate division with 75 people. Together, we created the following Code of Conduct, which will govern their future meetings:

1. Meetings are only allowed 9-4 Monday through Thursday and 9-1 on Friday.
2. An agenda, along with any pre-work, is required 72 hours in advance of the meeting, clearly outlining the objective of the meeting. If a purpose can't be defined, cancel the meeting. Outline the time requirement for each item on the agenda and the responsible person.
3. If meeting is not within these guidelines, each attendee has ability to question the meeting.
4. Be sensitive to time constraints and deadlines of other departments. Match the importance and complexity of the issue to the length of the meeting.
5. Meetings should only be 50 minutes (rather than one hour) or end ten minutes before the top of the hour, so attendees can make the next meeting that begins at the top of the hour.
6. Meetings will start and stop on time, unless all in attendance agree to extend the time. Try to finish early if possible; don't stretch the meeting. Attendees may get up and leave at the stated end time. You can ask the previous group to leave if you have the conference room reserved.
7. Use the meeting for items requiring dialogue, decisions, or team building only, not informational items.
8. If the meeting is canceled or the room has changed, the leader is responsible for calling all attendees to notify them of the change. If you can't attend, you must notify the leader.
9. Put people in later time zones at the beginning of the agenda. Or if an attendee's presence is only required for small portion of the meeting, let that person speak first, and then leave.
10. Ensure that all invitees really need to be there.
11. You may send a delegate in your place, if the person is capable of making decisions and can sign-off or take away an action item. Let the leader know you're sending someone.
12. Come prepared and read advance materials. Bring your own copies of any documents. If you will not be adequately prepared, notify the leader.
13. If the leader or key decision maker no-shows, attendees may leave after 10 minutes.
14. Use a timekeeper (appointed by the leader) to keep the meeting on target and follow the agenda. Don't limit meaningful conversation.
15. Eliminate any discussion that involves only two people.
16. Appoint a scribe for the meeting. When something comes up that's not on the agenda, the scribe records it on an easel pad labeled "parking lot." The scribe also creates "one minute" minutes during the meeting (a list of who is responsible for/what/by when).
17. Don't stop meetings to bring latecomers up to date, except in the case of emergency.
18. During the meeting, respond to emergency "911" pages only. If you must take a call, step out of the meeting room.

Get your group together and facilitate (or have someone else facilitate) a discussion and create a similar code of conduct. Reportedly, these rules have greatly reduced miscommunications and improved meeting productivity!

Lastly, try to reduce the time you spend in unimportant meetings. Can you send an alternate? Can you call the meeting chair and ask to report first, and then explain that you have another meeting on its heels and you need to depart in a timely manner? Can someone tape record the meeting for you to listen to in your car?

Here's to the meeting revolution -- where minutes aren't taken and hours aren't wasted!

Make it a productive day! ™

UNCONVENTIONAL Stress Relievers, USA. A healthy lifestyle, plenty of sleep, good time management skills, and having an organized home and workplace are all excellent safeguards against burnout. http://stress.about.com/cs/copingskills/a/aa043002.htm

WORKPLACE Flexibility Slashes Parents' Stress, PRNewswire, USA. Having an understanding supervisor, the ability to make phone calls, and permission to deal with family matters at work all directly improve employee productivity.
http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=1730448&nav=3jwLLjKc

THE Harsh Reality of a Jobless Recovery, Boise Weekly, Boise, ID, USA. Technology and the Workplace at the Century Foundation show an enormous gap between the growth of employee productivity and jobs.
http://www.boiseweekly.com/more.php?id=1224_0_1_0_M

"Hardly anyone writes because you can't really write down all you know. And even if you do write, nobody will read it. So there are meetings, and meetings about meetings, and meetings to plan reports, and meetings to review the status of reports. And what these meetings are about are people just trying to figure out what they are doing."
-- Paul Strassmann, former Vice President, Xerox

"The workers of the world will soon be divided into two distinct groups: those who will control computers and those who will be controlled by computers. It would be best for you to be in the former group."
-- Lewis Eigen, 1961

"For over a half century now I've watched as office obesity develops into a full-blown, crippling disease. As our office clutter mounts, we're ever more intimidated and frustrated by it. We engineer drainage and removal of water and liquid wastes from society to prevent hazardous buildup, but the effluent that pours into our offices-paper-is never flushed out."
-- Don Aslett

Information Management: Preventing Digital Overload

We've become dependent upon computers, email, voicemail, the Internet, Blackberries, PDAs, cell phones, and pagers. These devices connect us to the world of work. Today, you must be technologically savvy. Technology can undoubtedly improve your productivity, but it can make you LESS productive if you're not careful. This seminar discusses how to use the latest technologies to your advantage, without letting technology take advantage of you.

Course Objectives:

1. Reduce "information overload."
2. Use proper email protocol and don't waste others' time.
3. Leave effective voicemail messages.
4. Use your phone as an effective productivity tool.
5. Organize your computer, so you can find files easily.
6. Become familiar with the available productivity features of your email program.
7. Run regular maintenance on your computer to ensure excellent performance and protect your data.
8. Understand the differences between electronic and paper systems.
9. Control email "spam" and unwanted email.
10. Control your technology, so it doesn't control you.

*Schedule this seminar by July 1, 2004 (to be held on ANY date) and receive a 10% discount for mentioning this newsletter.