I called my mate yesterday.
5 hours later he called me back, apologising and explaining he’d been in a meeting. An all afternoon (4 and half hour!) meeting.
‘How was it?’ I asked.
I’ll leave you to imagine his colourful answer.
But here’s a thought. The fact is we need more meetings. Just not the 4+ hour kind.
More short meetings.
20 minutes. Share, listen, make decisions, get out!
Do you know why most meetings last for an hour?
Because they’re scheduled in for an hour!
If you programme them for 45 minutes, you’ll get just as much done. Promise.
Yes, more – OF THE RIGHT – meetings.
More opportunities to get creative.
Share, allocate, interact, inspire.
And even if you have 45 minutes programmed should meat of the meeting take just 20…. Wrap it up.
Time is your most valuable asset. Spend it well.
More (shorter) meetings = better interactions = improved results.
Be Brilliant!
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Couldn’t agree more, Michael! I regularly book meetings for 45 minutes instead of an hour and it confuses people greatly. But we get just as much done. I’m also a fan of the walking meeting (if it’s just a couple of you) – you’ll get some fresh air, exercise and hopefully some fresh ideas, too.
Right on Michael , I would add to Time, Energy & Attention as our most precious resources, most folks never do the £ROI exercise (time x cost of all involved) before calling meeting so we end up with £2000 meeting to solve a £200 problem! So more stand up meetings! , as “Sitting is new smoking”
Starting meetings at odd times also concentrates the mind. Try 11.25 or 14.40. It quite obvious what you are doing but makes people think about meeting timing. Also get them to bring tea and coffee with them rather than serve it and, of course, have an agenda with a finishing time.
Why not try the 6-hat method – works in the Far East and no time is wasted with everyone trying to solve everything all at the same time!