Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~100 ·

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You Can Avoid "Death by Meeting"

You Can Avoid "Death by Meeting"

D)FNly

by Meeting

Sometimes you hear a story and you really want it to be true.

Even if there is no evidence to support it.

The thing is... the story is so good, you can use the principle without needing the facts.

This is one of those.

I can't verify whether or not this is true... but let me share what I've heard.

The President of a local University is a busy person.  Everyone wants a piece of his time.

If you call to schedule a meeting with him, the most you will get is 15 minutes.

If you can't do your business in 15 minutes or less, don't make the appointment.

Apparently the meeting ends on time, every time. No exceptions.

This may sound rude.  I call it efficient.

How many meetings have you endured that was filled with drivel and nonsense?  How many times did the 'real' business or decision be addressed in less than 15 minutes, with the rest of the time filled with fluff?

Who said meetings had to last for a specific time period?

If you are done, then let everybody go.  They have things to do. You have things to do. (Hopefully the action items you agreed to at the meeting.)

It's silly.  So why do we do it?

Because we are conditioned to do so.  And it looks good on our agenda having all the slots filled in.

It's time for you to reevaluate your meetings. As Ben Franklin said "Never confuse motion with action."

And it's not about having less meetings, but more of the right kinds of meetings.

Yes... More Meetings.

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In my world, I've adapted a framework from Patrick Lencioni's book Death by Meeting. According to the summary on the website:
"Death by Meeting is nothing short of a blueprint for leaders who want to eliminate waste and frustration among their teams, and create environments of engagement and passion."
At the time I bought the book, I was frustrated at how inefficient meetings were in my department.  With a summary like that, who wouldn't buy the book?  Who doesn't want to have better meetings?

In the framework, there are short meetings lasting less than 15 minutes (held standing up if possible so no one gets too comfortable), there are medium length meetings focused around specific issues, and there are full day meetings designed to tackle strategic direction.  Not all meetings are the same.

Read the book for yourself (buy it here) and check out the great resources on the TableGroup website.

Included in these resources are these 5 tips for better meeting design: (This material is taken directly from from the TableGroup website.)

  • Know the purpose of your meeting. Is it about solving a tactical, short-term problem, or a critical strategic issue? Are participants meant to brainstorm, debate, offer alternatives, or just sit and listen? Don't let your meeting devolve into a combination of all of these, leaving people confused about what is going on and what is expected of them. 
  • Clarify what is at stake. Do participants understand the price of having a bad meeting? Do they know what could go wrong if bad decisions are made? If not, why should they care?
  • Hook them from the outset. Have you thought about the first 10 minutes of your meeting and how you're going to get people engaged? If you don't tee up your topic and dramatize why it matters, you might as well invite participants to check-out..
  • Set aside enough time. Are you going to be tempted to end the meeting before resolution has been achieved? Contrary to popular wisdom, the mark of a great meeting is not how short it is, or whether it ends on time. The key is whether it ends with clarity and commitment from participants.
  • Provoke conflict. Are your people uncomfortable during meetings and tired at the end? If not, they're probably not mixing it up enough and getting to the bottom of important issues. Conflict shouldn't be personal, but it should be ideologically emotional. Seek out opposing views and ensure that they are completely aired.

These five tips alone can improve the quality of our meetings, both in terms of the experience itself as well as the outcome. And considering the almost universal lethargy and disdain for meetings, they can transform what is now considered a painful problem into a competitive advantage 

Are you ready for more efficient meetings?

You may not be ruthless enough to create a 15 minute meeting rule, but I'll bet there's a lot you can learn and adapt from this book.

I'd love to hear how you reclaimed your wasted meeting time.  What framework or structure did you use?

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Note: A version of this post previously appeared on my blog Turning Technology Invisible

Images:  Used under Creative Commons license

About the Author:

5fcddc38.jpgI’m the Chief Information Officer for Appleby College, in Oakville, Ontario Canada, where my team is transforming the delivery of education through innovative application of technology. I'm also a beBee Brand Ambassador.

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee (www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk 



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Comments

Kevin Pashuk

6 years ago #8

#16
Thanks for visiting Faith.

Graham🐝 Edwards

7 years ago #7

Nice buzz Kevin Pashuk and I appreciate the Ben Franklin quote... I had never heard it and I really like it.

Harvey Lloyd

7 years ago #6

"Know the purpose of the meeting" This is my bewilderment in many meetings, i have participated in thousands. In most i sensed the need to transfer knowledge in its raw form. Not sure why, as the folks i have hired, i hired because i trusted their judgement in consolidating the information into a solution or identify issues before they arise. I usually called them on the data dump with question of what the information told them. (This was in the construction days.) It usually shut the meeting down. It was funny as they all used MS Project back in the day and to get them to understand, i used the same software and created a project that was strictly ongoing concerns or things to watch for in multiple projects. They hated my project but our meetings became more effective in challenging the construction process of data dumps. The owner of the company heard some wild stories about my leadership, but once the meetings became efficient so did our customer service. This showed up at the top of the sales funnel and also at the bottom line. I told the owner i could stop, all he had to do was ask. He never did. Meetings are the bane of our existence or the gateway to elevated customer service. Great stuff as usual Kevin Pashuk

Ken Boddie

7 years ago #5

I have written and presented many times on meeting procedures, Kev, but alas, human nature is often allowed to take precedence over practical procedures, resulting in an agony of postulation, verbal diarrhetic procrastination, and time mismanagement. I suggest that the two things of paramount importance to avoid "death by meetings" are to ensure that the chairperson has the focus and authority to keep matters on track and on time, and that an efficient scribe is appointed to distribute the agenda in advance and circulate the minutes soon afterwards, with an action column, and that matters not discussed (due to a strict time allocation being implemented) are carried over to the next meeting.
Well-run meetings can be very effective. Unfortunately, most managers are thrown into their roles without any training in this area and spend the rest of their careers learning from the practices they see around them. This is one of the areas in which all new managers should receive training.

Paul Walters

7 years ago #3

Kevin Pashuk Ok meetings ...I think you are a little harsh . You see, I have meetings each and every day, no exceptions !!!! They can be illuminating, insightful ( same thing I guess) inspiring and a jolly good way to bond. Now I should point out that I work alone , ( well I do have a cat but he is really useless in meetings and sometimes rude) I usually have an agenda which is followed to the letter. Arguments do occasionally occur but I seem to always win! Is this because I am arguing with myself ( note to self; Bring this up at next meeting) I like to bring up controversial topics like , longer lunch hours, extended nap periods and later starting times . I feel you are all missing the point about meetings for I simply love chatting away for extended periods of time on a variety of topics. I would continue on this diatribe but must dash I have a psychiatrist's appointment. Tally Ho !!!

CityVP Manjit

7 years ago #2

That is what Scrum Meetings are - 15 minutes tops https://gpsistakis.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/daily-standup-meetings/
Yup a lot of meetings are boooooring, even stressful. It doesn't have to be that way.

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