The Manager - 138 - Some thoughts on meetings
Monday 10th May 2021 - Some thoughts on meetings
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Hi,
Hope you are safe and well. Been working crazy busy on my HR course and general work stuff, so I’ve had to forgo the videos for a while….and as for my new book….it’s taking longer than expected. Alas, I see light coming soon and a break to regroup my efforts.
As I’m remote at work, like most people are, I’m emotionally and physically destroyed by the number of video conference meetings. They are tiring. They are more tiring than face to face and given that so many companies seem to use meetings to “get things done”, there are far more meetings now I'm remote. I’m working hard to reduce them.
What follows is a break from the normal newsletter and instead I’ve listed some thoughts about meetings in bullet points. Let me know what you think.
A meeting is a group of people who keep minutes but waste hours.
A meeting is a meeting of people to decide when the next meeting will take place.
For the purpose of the following I have excluded general 1:2:1s (as they are about building relationships, so I don't consider them a meeting).
The purpose of most meetings *should* be to make decisions, often because it’s no longer possible for a single person to make a decision about work.
As companies become more complex it’s often a side effect that people don’t hold all of the information to complete their work, or specialists need to be sought for their input.
The people in a meeting should be there because they can directly contribute to the decision making process.
At a basic level – a meeting is nothing more than a decision making opportunity.
A meeting is a group communication activity - so it pays to learn about group dynamics and communication.
As decision making *should* be done by those close to the work, it’s common for managers and leaders to add layers of governance and review meetings to check on these decisions.
Either decisions can be made on the front line of work, or they cannot.
Let’s not give people fake autonomy and add more meetings to the mix.
Committees are often the result of mass inclusion, where committees are created to try and include everyone (because people like to feel included - rightly) – and very few good things come from committees.
I can’t remember who said it but the phrase “committees are where good ideas go to die” seems apt.
Be careful of creating committees and working groups where discussions are conducted more than action.
People are indeed more committed to an idea if they are involved in the discussion and the decision, but let’s not pretend we need a meeting to do that.
Do the work instead and include the right people in it. And give them autonomy and responsibility.
Don’t let committees become a stalling tactic. They are somewhat pointless to start with – and the detrimental effect they can have on action, business and value for customers is immense.
I worked in one company where a request for a decision to be made could take 6 months. 6 months!
The problem is not meetings themselves. The problem is the people in the meeting.
A broad set of talented minds coming together to discuss and make decisions can lead to better outcomes. Not everyone in the meeting will contribute to the outcomes, but often we won’t know who will/won’t contribute unless we bring a group together.
In other words, it’s often one or two people in a group who lead to the right outcome…but we may not know which people solve problems and make decisions in advance.
Groups can share more ideas, bounce off each other, learn together and come up with novel solutions.
Groups, however, have politics.
Meetings with groups of people can get derailed easily.
Individuals can dominate and personalities can clash in meetings.
Groups can spend too long on silly things whilst avoiding what they are there for.
Groups can become too wedded to a single idea at the detriment of other ideas (group think).
Groups require good facilitation.
Decisions that turn out to be awful by groups (and we don't know the outcome in advance) can be shared across the group meaning less witch hunting and less personal responsibility.
Groups cost more to bring together than individuals but sometimes that is a cost worth bearing.
Some groups come up with average decisions and outcomes.
Sometimes they try to achieve consensus and it results in a watered down outcome.
Groups of people like to talk. But creation of value rarely comes from talking (unless you host a podcast).
Groups are massively affected by things they can control and things they cannot. They are often oblivious to external factors, which at first is comical, until you realise how much time they are wasting in oblivion:
(think physical settings, nature of task, support from management, context of market, compatibility of people, skills of people etc)
A cohesive group is gold. Cohesion (often commonly referred to in the nebulous term of psychological safety) means the group are coming together around a common goal and want to succeed.
They form well and have strong norms. They can challenge the norms without reprimand or negative consequences.
Cohesive groups win.
Groups have different styles and there is often no right or wrong. This is my bug bear with “you should lead a meeting like X”. There is no single X that works.
I’ve known some of the most effective groups be run in an autocratic way, yet people flock to it.
In my experience, the best meetings are where everyone gets to contribute, and someone is raising the collective consciousness around behaviours, communication and non-verbal communication.
“I see we may have pushed you too far Dave…”
“Wow – I didn’t notice that, but now I know what to look for”.
Good meetings and groups have a clear outcome, agenda and are timeboxed.
Meetings have clear facilitators who control the loud and dominating people and encourage the quieter members into the mix.
Meetings are held for a specific reason.
Meetings are short and to the point. A 30 minute deadline often leads to the same conclusion as a one hour meeting would.
Even better are 15 minute meetings.
Don’t hate meetings - hate how they are run and for what purpose.
Say no to meeting invites that don’t have a clear agenda and clear information about why you are invited and what you are expected to contribute. Remember, a meeting *should* be a way to make decisions.
Ask "what problem are we trying to solve?" at the start of every meeting to understand why the group is together.
No solid answer - leave the meeting. (ideally ask this before the meeting)
Block time in your calendar to do work and don’t let people book over it – otherwise you’ll find people who like meetings for the sake of meetings, simply invite you to a meeting for the sake of it.
Meetings aren’t inherently bad. Meetings are a very effective way to solve problems and make decisions or pull in expert help.
They are wasteful when there is no clear purpose, and they have ineffective facilitation.
Good communication skills are the key – and where possible – push decision making to the closest point possible to the work – and trust that people will make the right decision.
Meetings are helpful when used correctly but sadly, in my experience, they are often held to check on others, to give people a fake sense of inclusion and as a forum to try and make action happen.
Rob..
Interesting articles
1. This is interesting - Basecamp have stopped people talking about politics at work - and it's not quite having the effect they figured it would.
2. Do employees have the right to refuse to go to work amid fears of Covid? Depends whether you sense imminent danger.
3. If you've been laid off during the pandemic - here's how to explain it to employers in an interview.
4. How to facilitate remote meetings using the nesting doll approach.
5. A lack of small talk is ruining our brains.
6. How would you like your colleagues to decide your salary?
7. How to have more meaningful conversations.
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Rob..