MEETINGS - One Big Waste of Time

Meetings: One Big Waste of Time

Here are some statistics about meetings that will make you Corporate Kahunas sit up and take notice. It is estimated that 30% of all time spent in meetings is a total and utter waste of time. A little math tells us that the cost of wasted meeting time, just in corporate America, could be as much as 37 billion dollars per year.

Don’t believe us? Try this little exercise: Post a notice in your employee lounge asking your staff to anonymously list their top five "timewasting" tasks as workers. Remember, we’re looking for those nasty things that get in the way of their productivity... and meetings always, always make the list.

Here are some tips for making your meetings as effective as possible:

1. If you don’t need a meeting, don’t have a meeting! Send out a detailed memo instead.

2. If you must have a meeting, create a written agenda, and send it out 72 hours in advance of the meeting.

3. Assign a specific time to start each item during the meeting... then stick to your outline rigorously.

4. Start on time... end on time. Demand promptness and be prompt.

5. Orchestrate people in and out of your meeting as needed. Don’t make someone not needed for the whole meeting sit through the whole meeting. They could be making money instead.

6. Ask other key people to be in the building, and in their office, should a special situation occur requiring their presence.

7. After the meeting, provide minutes and/or notes of items discussed and tasks assigned within 24 hours, so everyone is clear on direction.

NOTE: For quick topics, try a "stand-up" meeting. Providing chairs always increases the length of any meeting.

Keep in mind that most people LOVE meetings. They are a chance to kick back, and even daydream, for a lot of attendees. The few people who do hate meetings probably are the ones who get the most work done around the office. Remove the frustration of having to sit through poorly run and poorly organized meetings by restructuring your meetings with these tips in mind. Where little purpose and even less action has been a common result in the past, effective "planned" meetings can be great time savers, motivators, and result generators.