I’ve just finished reading yet another article on how to
hold good meetings. If you are anything like me you don’t find the topic all
that exciting but are searching for that elusive holy grail of how to “give
good meeting.” Are you spending most of your days in back-to-back meetings,
leaving post-work after hours the only time you have to actually work? Are you
spending your evenings responding to emails because you literally didn’t have a
free minute during your 10-hour workday? I’ve spent way too much time on that
hamster wheel and it’s exhausting! I hope that the following suggestions will
eliminate the need for you to have to read another article on meetings.
There are proven ways to make the most out of your meetings.
And it’s the best managers, the GREAT ones really, who are doing things right.
It’s time to take a page from their playbook. And lucky for you, a team at Root
Inc. has been studying high-performing managers for the past few years. And
they’ve discovered that the best of the best all have something in common
regardless of industry or geography. Proper meeting planning.
Yes, the managers who produce dramatically better results
than their peers in general also know how to plan exceptionally great meetings.
You know these meetings – the effective ones. The engaging ones. The meetings
that accomplish more and take up less time. The impossible is indeed possible!
The Root team has boiled this ocean down to four key
behaviors and actions that the best performing managers have perfected. If you
want to learn how to hold a meeting like the cream de la crème, you can read
all the details here. Here’s a cheat sheet to get you started before you have
to rush off to your next meeting.
Step 1: Mix it up. It’s easy to invite the same people every
time. You know them, you trust them. But, what about who you’re not including?
The people who have different opinions and priorities? The people from other
parts of the business? The best managers know it’s important to bridge gaps and
create strong relationships with all business groups, so if there’s a team
making your team’s job more difficult – invite them. It’s amazing what can
happen when everyone is face-to-face.
Step 2: Know your s*&t. This one takes some up-front
work. Before the meeting, research facts, data and recent successes and
failures that will help everyone do what they do even better. For example, if
the customer is the #1 priority for the quarter, explain what this means and
show what this looks like with descriptive examples – actual things happening
around the company. Give details! People want smart strategies and tactics so
they can make an impact.
Step 3: Keep it tight. No one has time for an
agenda-less meeting! So get yours ready ahead of time. That will help you 1)
accomplish everything you need to accomplish, 2) cover the important stuff
first and 3) save time for attendees to give their opinions and thoughts –
everyone just wants to be heard, right? Don’t end up forgetting to share the
great data you’ve spent time collecting or leave a critical discussion point to
the end and have to rush through it. Just make an agenda.
Step 4: Build a roadmap. Great managers never leave work
unassigned. As the Watercooler article says, “High-performing managers don’t
‘noodle’ and they don’t ‘place things on the back burner.’” So you shouldn’t
either. The best meeting leaders work with their teams to decide who is doing
what, when, and for how long. When everyone has a roadmap they will get where they
need to go faster!
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