Meetings

Is there anything we corporate types dread more than meetings? Here are a few tips to reduce the pain.

If you've spent any time in a business environment, the word 'meeting' causes a visceral response. A sigh, a head shake, maybe even rage! "No! Not another meeting!"

Doesn't matter what the meeting is called. "Read out," "Stand up," "Huddle," it's all the same. I'll let experts debate if meetings are truly necessary, what I want to talk about today is - if we have to have meetings, how do we make them better?

1. Define Objectives (if not outcomes). A weekly meeting with an objective of "bringing others up to speed" is a poorly defined objective. And there are better ways to bring others up to speed than a round table. Step 1 - define the objective of the meeting. Then, if you can, define the outcome. What takeaways do you want people to have when the meeting is over? What tasks will be assigned? Make a plan and stick to it

2. Do Some Prep Work. If you called the meeting, do some prep work beforehand. If the meeting is so important that you are taking an hour out of everyone's day, the least you can do is be prepared. Even better, let people know what they need to be ready to speak on before the meeting. No one likes being caught off guard!

3. Leave The Attitude At The Door. No one likes meetings. But to add insult to injury, many people come to meetings with an attitude. From subtle eye rolls, to snide comments to outright condescending put downs. We are on the same team, working towards the same goals. Let's act like it!

4. Avoid jargon. This one is a personal pet peeve of mine. Internal meetings aren't sales calls, nor pitches. It's a meeting with people we talk to day in and day out. If we're meeting face-to-face and a topic comes up that isn't in line with the meeting at hand? Don't tell me "let's take this offline." We ARE offline! In reality, this comment, this jargon comes across as dismissive. It comes off as if you didn't truly hear what I said. And jargon makes people want to punt rule #3 ('leave the attitude at the door'). We don't need to "iterate" or "pivot" or "think outside the box." We need to speak plainly. Clearly. Without jargon. Jargon doesn't make you sound smarter, in fact, just the opposite! If you can't explain things without jargon? Perhaps you don't understand the issues at hand well enough.

Too many times, individuals exit a meeting, head back to their desks and question every life choice that brought them to that meeting. By defining the objective of a meeting, prepping everyone for what to expect before the meeting and checking attitudes at the door and speaking clearly, we can at the very least, reduce the pain involved with meetings.

People aren't looking for a cheer-leading session during meetings. But, if we commit to these above ideas, we will find meetings becoming more useful, productive and, fingers crossed, easier to tolerate! At the very least, we won't go back to our desk and dream about winning the lottery for the next thirty minutes.