Business Meetings : the Good, the Bad and the Happy

Take any meeting you had just emerged from in the last few days. A staff meeting, an internal committee, a marketing planning session or an executive committee meeting. What went through your mind?

• Wonderful. Can’t wait get started with the project. Good to hear my work complimented in front of the whole team.
• Huh? What exactly did Jones say? Lost track there and would need to get back to him.
• Aargh! Can’t stand this waffling! And if Woods talks to me in that tone one more time….

Business meetings have always been part of an organisations’ DNA and in the increasing complexity of business, today meetings are even more of a necessity. A company integrates a multitude of complex and interdependent tasks. There is always new information that needs to be disseminated, digested and dispersed within the organisation, and there is an increasing need for engagement and teamwork within businesses. The convenience of a formal gathering is an ideal vehicle to deal with such matters efficiently. However……

Your choice above may well have been B or C. Let’s look at some statistics.

• The average office worker attends 62 meeting per month
• Attention in meetings starts to drift after only 11 minutes
• A full 49% of time spent in meetings is considered wasted!

Estimates are that in the United States $37 Billion of time is wasted every year by way of unproductive meetings. The figure does not include time spent preparing for the meetings and the inefficiency resulting from vagueness and double-takes in follow up actions.

Mitchell’s law of Committees: “Any simple problem can be made insoluble if enough meetings are held to discuss it.”

How can the inefficiency be reduced?

I distinguish between structural and psychological aspects of business meetings. 

Structural Aspects

Clarity of Purpose: The reason for convening should be made clear before the gathering, and importantly, re-stated by the leader of the meeting at the start. Is it to inform people, make certain decisions and take actions, or to brainstorm a problem? Clarity of purpose includes sticking to the agenda and not letting the discussions drift into the clouds. For an hour long meeting – the ideal number of agenda items could be 3 to 6 – which accommodates the typical 11 minute attention span. More, and the risk of skimming over issues increases.

Invite the right people, and only the right people. Invite the right decision makers and only those that need to be there to influence the issues to be discussed. If purely information spreading – see what can be sent by email instead of communicated orally. Or task those present to communicate further in the organisation. The ideal size of meetings is 5 to 8. Sufficient to have diverse organisation functionaries and opinions around the table, but not too many to protract discussions.

Actions items sent out afterwards. Precise actions, with timelines and allocated to responsible individuals. The ideal number of people to handle the responsibility is one – no shirking and no waiting for others to do their part. The action list is critical to the success of the meeting and to alleviate the need for further meetings. To quote Hendrickson’s law of meetings: “If a problem causes too many meetings, the meetings eventually become more important than the problem”. Send the actions right after the meeting with reminders later. An action plan sent weeks after the event is a wish-list.

Psychological Aspects

Social Interaction. An organisation is not only a business seeking profit but also (and sometimes more so) a social community where people need to relate, converse and feel part of the shared beliefs and values. Business meetings are an ideal time to catch-up on community matters and strengthen social ties. Some social interaction, some humor and even a little complaining can go a long way in unifying the group and purpose. A vigilant leader will not let these discussions stray too far and tactfully bring attention back to agenda matters.

Informal Information Gathering. Those attending often do not come into contact much, if any, outside of the meeting room. As firms become more matrixed and cross-functional, employees want to know what is happening in other parts of the organisation and a meeting is a good place to put radars out. Especially information to help stay clear of political minefields and of looming changes that might have an adverse effect. This psychological driver of behavior is powerful and not easily stemmed. One way as meeting leader is to mention often there will be opportunity for informal talk after the meeting agenda. Ironically, by which time energy has become dissipated and the urge to "get back to work" is stronger.

Status Displays. Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone is concerned with their status and standing in an organisation. Meetings are the ideal place to strut knowledge, show off ranking and enjoy (imagined?) attention while dispensing timeless wisdom and insight. More than one person seeking undue attention and a bonfire of vanities ensues. Displays of status and a need to be competitive in all situations, must surely rank as top reasons for inefficiency. It takes confidence and skill to sway such behaviors where it contributes little to the discussion – and it seldom does. “Ok, we heard you, good point, now let’s all move on ....”

Increasing business meeting efficiency is certainly not easy and it takes effort. A successful meeting happens when the right people attend, the purpose is clear and understood, and action items are allocated immediately afterward. The natural human tendencies of status displays, social bonding and informal information gathering will always be there – just turn the volume down.

(Sources: Harvard Business Review: Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter and www.actionfraction.co.uk)