Give the Gift of Better Meetings
My nephew closely inspected the pile of gifts stacked under my tiny little Christmas tree and found the one with his name on it, which just so happened to be the biggest box of all. He tapped it, smiled a big smile at me, and said, “Thanks, Auntie!” He didn’t know what was inside, but he seemed pretty sure that he would like it. To be honest, I owe my excellent gift-giving track record to an over-reliance on Amazon Wish Lists. The desire to give each other exactly what we needed and wanted is what prompted my family to become early adopters of Wish Lists, and we’ve never looked back. Sometimes our lists contain items that aren’t even available on Amazon, such as gifts that can only be purchased at local shops or by ordering from a specific company’s website. Regardless of the process for obtaining the present, there’s a joy that comes with knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gift I bought will make my loved one very happy!
I know it may seem a bit ridiculous, but I get the same feelings of excitement from reading research reports and survey results as I get from my family’s wish lists. As a leader, I want to ensure that I am providing my teams with the type of leadership they need and want. Knowing what people value, understanding their views and opinions, and including their desires in my plans makes me a better leader. As a doctoral student, I read countless research articles on everything from employee engagement to organizational learning and innovation. I can let you in on a little secret - almost everyone wishes that their bosses would give them the gift of better meetings!
In his 2019 article in the Harvard Business Review, Steven G. Rogelberg noted that leaders often think their meetings are effective while meeting attendees view them as a waste of time. Rogelberg said, “When leaders assume that their meetings are going well, they are less apt to solicit feedback and seek opportunities to improve.” [1] The most common meeting problems that attendees note on surveys are agenda items that are not relevant to the whole group, meetings that run too long, and a lack of focus and depth to the discussions.
Besides the financial cost of wasted time in meetings (researchers estimate that it amounts to billions of dollars in the US every year) ineffective meetings can also lead to a lack of respect for leaders, lower levels of engagement by employees, and decreased productivity overall. Interestingly, research reveals that people aren’t necessarily hoping that their bosses will eradicate meetings. They just want their meetings to be more effective. In this article, I will share three steps you can take to give your team what they are wishing for this year - more positive and productive meetings.
Flip Your Meetings
One of my favorite innovations that made its mark on K-12 education several years ago was the “flipped classroom” movement. In middle and high school math classes, in particular, educators realized that there might be a better way to use the limited class time they had with their students. To reduce the frustration that students experienced while trying to complete math problems on their own at home, teachers flipped how students used their time in class and at home. Teachers began recording their lectures and demonstrations ahead of time so that students’ homework assignments consisted of watching the demonstration videos, taking notes, and preparing questions for class the next day. Teachers were then able to use the full 40 minutes of class time to help students apply what they learned, discuss their questions, and provide the support they needed to solve problems independently.
One of the easiest ways to improve your meetings is to make sure that your time together is well spent. And that means reducing the time you spend on informational updates and announcements. To free up more time for higher-level discussions, teams should use email, shared documents, or collaboration software to share the information discussed at meetings ahead of time. This practice will help to ensure that each team member has an adequate amount of time to read, review, take notes, and write down questions in preparation for the meeting. Like flipped classrooms, it is essential to make sure that the time you have together is spent on higher-level tasks such as engaging in decision-making processes and determining the next steps for team members and the organization.
Hold a Meeting Of Meetings
Have you ever had the experience of attending a meeting that was supposed to be about one topic, but twenty minutes into the discussion, the group had raised fifteen different issues? Then by the end of the meeting, not a single problem had been solved? Unfortunately, this scenario is far too common in organizations today. The strategy I use to keep discussions from getting off-topic is to schedule what I call a Meeting of Meetings.
The purpose of holding a Meeting of Meetings is to provide a structured time for the team to think through all of the issues we have on our plates, pending decisions we need to make, and plans we need to create. We talk through what information we will need to make our decisions, and how all the various issues and pending decisions are related to each other. Most importantly, we do not solve any problems during the Meeting of Meetings - we just take stock of the issues we need to meet about in the future.
Once we have identified all of the topics we need to discuss, we make a meeting schedule. It is important to group discussion topics and agenda items to ensure that the meetings we schedule will not run too long. Some topics may be so in-depth that they each get their own meeting. Smaller issues get grouped together on the schedule if the team thinks that we can effectively discuss each of the issues in a reasonable amount of time.
During the planning phase of our Meeting of Meetings, we also discuss who needs to attend each meeting. If we plan to invite an outside guest to a particular meeting, we plan it far enough in advance to honor the guest’s schedule and time constraints. And if individual team members are not needed for a particular meeting, they are given the option of not attending so that we do not waste their time.
Build Time into Your Schedule for Meeting Preparation
Preparing a meeting agenda is a suggestion that shows up in almost every book and article about how to lead a better meeting. When team members have access to the meeting agenda and related materials ahead of time, they have the opportunity to engage with the topics and participate in the discussion on a deeper level. The practice of meeting planning has benefits for leaders, too.
When you dedicate time in your schedule to preparing for the meeting you also have the opportunity to engage with the issues on a deeper level. In their book Meeting Wise, authors Kathryn Parker Boudett and Elizabeth A. City said, “The single most effective thing you can do to have a good meeting is to get crystal clear about why you are meeting and what you hope to accomplish.” [2] Boudett and City recommend dedicating time to thinking deeply about what you hope to achieve by meeting together and how your discussions relate to other group activities and meeting topics.
Instead of just listing discussion topics on the meeting agenda, think through what outcomes you are looking for the team to produce. Do you need them to generate new ideas, develop a plan for communication, or brainstorm solutions to perplexing issues? Adding specific questions and discussion starters for each topic on the meeting agenda will help clarify your meeting expectations. As an added benefit, I have found that improving my meeting preparation also improves my meeting facilitation. With my thoughts, questions, and concerns noted on the agenda, I can give my full attention to soliciting feedback from the team, keeping the meeting flowing, and ensuring that the conversation stays on-topic.
The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Holding more positive and productive meetings is the gift that just keeps on giving! Effective meeting practices have been linked to increased levels of employee engagement, innovation, and creativity in organizations. Who doesn’t want more of that? If you would like to give your team the gift of better meetings, but don’t know where to start, we can help! Lakeside Leadership Services offers a free initial half-hour consultation and coaching session to leaders, and we have affordable coaching packages for leaders of nonprofit organizations. Visit us online at www.lakesideleadership.org or send an email to contactus@lakesideleadership.org to take the next step in your leadership journey.
Biography
Dr. Amanda K. Lake is the Founder of Lakeside Leadership Services, a company that provides learning and development consulting services to leaders of small businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, and churches. As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, Amanda offers training and coaching to leaders, teams, and individuals based on the CliftonStrengths assessment for adults and students, the StrengthsExplorer assessment for children, and the proven principles of strengths-based psychology and development. Lakeside Leadership Services also offers coaching and consulting in the areas of strategic planning, team learning and performance, employee engagement, organizational culture, and educational programming. Amanda can be contacted by email at amandalake@lakesideleadership.org
References
[1] Robelberg, S. G. (2019, January/February). Why Your Meetings Stink - and What to Do About it. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/01/why-your-meetings-stink-and-what-to-do-about-it
[2] Boudett, K.P. & City, E.A. (2016). Meeting wise: Making the most of collaborative time for educators. (p. 21). Harvard Education Press.
