By some reliable estimates, employees spend
69% of their time in meetings. So it is not surprising that in survey after
survey, meetings are considered the top time waster. In any meeting there will
be an overt agenda and a covert or hidden agenda. If your life is time, then
wasting your time in meetings is a kind of murder. Any meeting without a clear
agenda before, or at least as soon as it gets started, has a purpose other than
business. If your boss called the meeting and is wasting your time you may need
to be careful. As a general rule, if there is no clear agenda, ask for one.
Other tips for better meetings:
Consider whether a meeting is really needed.
Would an e-mail or memo do? Why do people need to sit across from each other?
Limit the size of the meeting to those
that need to be there to attain the desired outcome.
The chair needs to keep things on track.
If not, they are murdering your time. Be patient. But be willing to help influence
direction of discussions.
If a meeting is worth holding it is at
least worth recording the action items.
Have a recorder who notes points and/or
issues voiced on a flip chart or whiteboard. A meeting without recording is
not worth holding.
Meetings are about listening and not just
about “showing off,” so improve your listening. Ask clarity questions.
Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.
Decide that, in any meeting, there are
things you can learn. If nothing else you can learn about people in the room.
If you go into the meeting seeking to learn, rather than to control the meeting,
you will experience much less stress.
