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
Posted on April 24, 2008. Filed under: Latest News, The Tip Sheet
A colleague of mine has an interesting post regarding meetings. Not the fun kind (chance meetings, secret meetings, meetings on the beach). No, corporate meetings. He posted his take on the culture of corporate meetings in Haiku:
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 watch you.
- 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.
- If possible, avoid meeting at the same time each day - or even the same day each week. It makes the meetings feel more monotonous. 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.
- Shake it up! Have fun! Switch meetings rooms! Bring a guest speaker!
- Food always helps
I love Haiku, so I’ll end with my take on the culture of coporate meetings:
Meetings all the time!
The most productive of all?
The one that’s cancelled
One Response to “Why Bad Meetings Happen to Good People”
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You took my Haiku and elevated it to art– with sanity that corporate America needs so badly.
I’m a worker bee– and as I look over your post– I finding myself longing for a workplace where meetings are conducted using your tips. Is there such a place? Someday? Maybe?