I’m taking requests for work advice online but recently, I was at a writer’s MeetUp in Jersey and someone, we’ll call him C.A., vented his work frustration with me. His work issue is all about meetings. Surprise, surprise! This is such a common shenanigan at work. Well, I gave him my word that I would address it in a blog post. He explained that developing cashier and employee software for major retailers is something he enjoys, but it’s the back-to-back meetings that have become like a thorn in his side. Some meetings could happen less frequently than they do, some meetings have become a platform for chatter boxes to hear themselves talk, some meetings run longer than necessary, and some meetings are not even necessary altogether. It runs the gamut of reasons why work meetings are taking control of C.A.’s day, and he shared that it’s just about the worst thing he has to deal with at his job.
When I worked in corporate, it was one of my biggest issues too because it made me feel like I had no control over my day. I would feel defeated by the end of the day as some of what I planned to get done remained undone due to the limited time I had at my desk. If you can relate, I invite you to use this list of guidelines to help you manage the meetings that you’re being requested to attend or you’re planning yourself. It’ll help you no longer allow meetings to use up your valuable time, but rather use meetings to free up your time.
MEETING GUIDELINES
Presence is a Present, But Not Always
Have you ever been in a meeting and you looked around the room and you wondered, “why is so and so here?” or even, “why am I here?” Meetings need to have strategic attendee requirements. Key people such as those with decision making power and those leading the deliverable operations should definitely be present. Others that are involved can get an update from the leads. However, if you’re not a decision maker or a lead, but you have a desire to grow in your role and reach for higher professional heights, attend these meetings for sure. Just note that you may have less time for your other action items, so you’ll need to adjust things to accommodate that. Overall, if you want to reclaim more work time from meetings that steal your time, opt out of the ones that are truly unnecessary for you to attend. If you want to keep updated on what’s going on or what your actions items are, reference the follow-up notes. Yes, there should be follow-up notes. This leads us to our next topic about documentation versus a physical meeting.
Document It or Talk About It?
If every conversation, decision, thought, idea, or proposal required a face-to-face interaction, you’d never have time to do anything else but be in someone’s face. That doesn’t sound like the most productive day, don’t you agree? A quite profound phrase that can be applied to this guideline is, “don’t talk about it be about it!” If it’s you that’s planning the meeting, be sure to ask yourself this question, “Could this meeting be replaced with a detailed email?” If it can, skip sending that meeting request and instead, put the details of the meeting in an email. Make the message as brief as possible due to people’s short attention span. Also, be sure to add bolded key questions and bolded action items with assigned names, so everyone’s on the same page. If it’s someone else who is planning the meeting, touch base with that person, asking them gently and professionally if the meeting can be replaced with an email. Use discernment regarding when and with whom you use this approach.
Make Objectives the Objective
Whether you’re conducting the meeting or someone else is, find out what the objectives of the meeting are before or when it officially begins. This will help you and meeting participants to stay alert and focused on the end goal, which prevents people from digressing. Periodically throughout the meeting, make mention of the objective again to make sure the meeting is on track. Sometimes you have to do that to regroup everyone as there’s almost always a going-on-a-tangent participant in the room. Checking in on the objective nips the tangents in the bud.
There’s A Time For Everything
Some people simply love to hear themselves talk. They could be on topic or off topic, it doesn’t matter—they just want you to hear their thoughts. It’s always good to get some understanding about others and their behaviors, so let’s look at that for a moment. It’s possible that they feel that more words means more trust, understanding or even personal validating, seeking to be liked. Maybe they have a controlling “all eyes on me” complex and love the spotlight. Sadly, it could also be because no one really listens to them at home, or theirs actually no one at home to listen to them. Now that there’s understanding of where chatterboxes in meetings could possibly be coming from, you can have compassion on them and set them up for success in this area. This also sets you up for success, cutting down your meeting times! When you’re taking feedback or comments at a certain time of the meeting, make the request to ‘please limit your comments to 2 minutes or less to respect everyone’s time’. If someone else is conducting the meeting and you feel comfortable enough with that person, make this suggestion before the meeting begins so they can mention it when it’s time.
Implement the Sharp Start/Hard Stop Principle
Create a culture at work where start and stop times in the office are considered essential. At my church, I noticed that our Sunday services start sharply at 10am no matter what. Even if someone who’s a part of service hasn’t showed up yet, the show goes on! Service begins exactly when it’s scheduled because it shows respect for everyone’s time and it’s a demonstration of order and excellence. That too should be a practice at work. I’ve been in countless meetings when we’re waiting for someone to show up which delays the meeting and extends the meeting. No more of that for you! If you find yourself waiting for attendees to get themselves to the conference room, send a request to reschedule the meeting and go back to work. You also want to be sure the meeting ends on time as well. Once you see the end time getting near, make a mention of it and review the takeaways and ask for or communicate the action items. Once that end time comes, excuse yourself politely and professionally. Encouraging the meeting planner to consider condensing the meeting time would also help. So instead of the standard 1 hour meeting, if the person that requested the meeting is on board to have a half an hour or 45 minute meeting instead, influence them to adjust the timing on everyone’s meeting calendar.
Overall, time is precious. If you have any bit of influence on how meetings are scheduled and conducted in the office, use that influence wisely to benefit you and your team.
THE MOISTEST MANGO MUFFINS EVER
Ingredients
4 Bananas, very ripe
2 cups Oats, I used rolled
1 Egg
1/4 cup Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tsp. Nutmeg
pinch of Baking Soda
1 handful crumbled Walnuts
1 Mango cube for each muffin
Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Pre-heat oven at 400
Place all ingredients (except the walnuts and mango cubes) in a blender and blend until becomes a batter
Oil the muffin tin and begin pouring the batter into each mold
Sprinkle and push in walnut crumbles in each
Lightly press in 1 mango cube per muffin
Place muffin tin into a pre-heated stove for 15 to 20 minutes
Check for doneness periodically–tops should be lightly toasted as seen in the photos
Remove muffin tin from stove and let cook for about 5 to 10 minutes
Remove muffins from tin, plate and enjoy!
