Lynn Espinoza is a broadcast news veteran with more than a decade of media, presentation and executive coaching experience. She has developed personal coaching sessions for Fortune 100 C-level executives, corporate communicators of all kinds, doctors, lawyers and leaders in non-profit.
Why Bad Meetings Happen to Good People: Article hits Biznik!
Posted on November 12, 2008. Filed under: Articles
Biznik is one of the coolest business networking sites around. Based in Seattle and spreading quickly across the land. Below is an article that you can find there. Penned by yours truly about one of my favorite subjects:
Why Bad Meetings Happen to Good People
Ever feel like you’re stuck in Dilbert’s conference room, wherein meetings drone on with little result? One of Seattle’s top communication coaches has poetry and pathos for more productive meetings.
A colleague of mine, stuck in yet another meeting-of-small-consequence decided not to doodle this time. On this day, he drowned out the usual corporate yammering by penning the following:
too many meetings
in working america
too much, stop it now
If you work in an organization of more than 20 people, communicating with each other by way of meetings is sometimes a necessity. But we’ve moved from necessity to incessenty; meeting for meeting’s sake; how-to-look-productive-to-the-boss’ sake. I’ve worked in this creativity-numbing environment, and I coach executives who want to get out of it. Here are some suggestions and guidelines for meetings:
- If you have something to say that really pertains to only one or two people, talk directly to them. Don’t require the rest of the group to schedule time to listen and watch.
- If you have something to tell everybody - and just one thing - either send them an e-mail or wait until you have several important things to say. Meetings are fewer and more productive that way.
- Don’t send an invite to a “Mandatory All-Hands Meeting” without saying something about what you will talk about. If you don’t, a viral panic spreads through the office, and the rumors alone can hijack the intent of your meeting.
- Try to keep your meetings short, but don’t cut people off or stop engaging conversation just for the sake of time-keeping. Sometimes spontaneous brainstorming breaks out. Let it happen!
- Make sure that there is a clear meeting objective, and a desired outcome. It helps if you can let people know the intent of the meeting before it happens. That way, people can get some creative juices flowing before the meeting even starts. You can save buckets of time if people come prepared with ideas to share.
- Spread “action items” as evenly as possible. It helps with team building, and prevents that perception of, “Why do I always come away with all the action items??” If no action items result from the meeting, perhaps a meeting wasn’t needed in the first place.
- If possible, avoid meeting at the same time each day - or even the same day each week. It makes the meetings feel more tedious and forced. And quite frankly, you may not have something to say every Tuesday at 3:00. Maybe your news was better shared on Monday at 1:30. Maybe you didn’t have a full agenda until Thursday at 10:00. Be flexible, and ask the staff to be as well.
- Even in times of trouble, lead with the positive. Acknowledge the recent accomplishments of a team or individual. Celebrate little victories, to keep people inspired to achieve the big ones.
- Shake it up! Have fun! Switch meetings rooms! Bring a guest speaker! Don’t have budget for an outside speaker? Invite someone from within the company to share a challenge or success story. Often employees feel more vested in the company when they learn what other people and teams are doing.
- Food always helps!
Below is my attempt at corporate Haiku. If it strikes a chord in your office place, it may be time to shake things up!
Meetings all the time!
The most productive of all?
The one that’s cancelled
One Response to “Why Bad Meetings Happen to Good People: Article hits Biznik!”
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Great article, Lynn. Thanks for sharing it with the Biznik community. You’ve published two articles now that have been rated 8 or above - which means the Biznik community is telling you that you’re halfway toward getting your Expert badge on Biznik. I look forward to more articles from you!
Dan McComb
Biznik cofounder