Overwhelmed? Try this! - Part 4 - Good Meeting Hygiene

In this series, I describe the various methodologies I employ to combat burnout, enhance focus, and ultimately improve well-being during the workday. Most of these strategies are job-agnostic, so non-technical individuals are encouraged to read on!

What?

Meetings lacking documented aims, time limits, or action items can be disastrous for both you and your company. Over my nearly 14-year career, I estimate that approximately 70-80% of the meetings I've attended have been a waste of time for some, if not all, participants.

Here's the average cost, in dollars, for a 5-person team with a combined salary of 100k conducting a 1-hour meeting:

Feel free to calculate it for your own team

Why?

Voice or face-to-face meetings are often the default method for conveying or discussing information, whether rightly or wrongly. Unfortunately, they are frequently unproductive, unfocused, and, ultimately, a waste of time and money.

To save time and money for yourself and your company, consider the following:

1. Question the necessity of the meeting - Could the information be conveyed via email or instant message? Often, the answer is yes. It should be acceptable to decline meetings if information can be easily provided or obtained without a meeting. Context-switching is disruptive for all roles and costs a significant amount of money.
2. Ensure the meeting has a documented or obvious aim - Agenda-less meetings invite distractions and tangents. An aim keeps the discussion clear, on track, and all participants engaged. Meetings like 1-to-1s are somewhat exempt from this rule.
3. Set a fixed time for the meeting - Meetings should always be timeboxed appropriately to keep attendees engaged and allow time for other calendar items. No one should entertain meetings that overrun, and people should feel empowered to leave meetings.
4. Capture actionable outputs - Meetings should produce actionable results. If you don't keep track of these, why have a meeting in the first place?
5. Prepare for the meeting - The hours spent in meetings where someone adjusts fields on Jira or begins a lengthy setup for an unprepared demo, is criminal. Meeting organizers should always prepare beforehand.

If you're a person of influence witnessing these issues in your business, there are a couple of things you can do to promote better meeting hygiene:

1. Empower people to say "No" - Individuals should feel comfortable pushing back on poorly constructed meeting requests. This cultural shift will naturally lead to better meeting practices.
2. Practice what you preach - Consistency is key; leaders should model the behavior they advocate.
3. Aim small, miss small - Begin by encouraging the addition of agendas to meetings. Even this simple step guarantees some return on investment.