The illusion of productive meetings
Have you ever sat through a mind-numbing three-hour meeting, wondering how it’s possible that you’re the only one who sees how pointless it is? It’s normal to assume you’re the most frustrated person in the room, but psychology suggests this is often an illusion.
Pluralistic ignorance refers to a phenomenon whereby even though we’re all experiencing the same thing, we assume that other people don’t feel the same way about it as we do. This bias leads us to continue to schedule and attend meetings even when everyone secretly agrees that they’re useless because we assume we’re the only one who thinks so.
Most leaders spend 40–50% of their working hours in meetings. And most agree that at least 50% of that time is wasted!
Evaluating meeting effectiveness
Stop and think briefly and look at your Outlook calendar for last week. Consider how effective each meeting was. How many people attended? What was the cost vs benefit of having the meeting? Hmm… guessing not many were productive?
Blaming meetings for our lack of productivity is an easy way out. Meetings are not the problem—unnecessary and poorly run ones are the issue. Most meetings could be avoided. Many could be an email. But that doesn’t mean that we should eliminate all of them.
Changing your meeting culture
Change your meetings, change your culture. Antony Jay wrote in How to Run a Meeting that our attachment to the places we work is based on social interactions. Without meetings, our devotion to the organisation we work for decreases dramatically.
After all, we are social animals. We have evolved to connect. “Meetings fulfil a deep human need. Man is a social species. In every organisation and every human culture of which we have a record, people come together in small groups at regular and frequent intervals and in larger “tribal” gatherings from time to time.”
We usually think of meetings as a waste of time. Most people say that they only work once all their meetings are over. Some steal moments during virtual meetings to ‘get the work done’. Unproductive, poorly organised meetings are frustrating and even demotivating. However, productive meetings are the foundation of great team climates and cultures. Meetings should help us move forward and do good work, not just block our days up and sap our will to live.
Tips for more productive meetings
- Don’t block one-hour meetings; make them shorter.
- Put fire breaks in between meetings.
- Ask yourself if you need the meeting, or could it be an email instead?
- Half the number of people attending.
- Send information in advance.
- Have an agenda – how many meetings do you attend that have one?
- Enhance your meetings overnight with the PPCCR tool.
Consider that there are only three functional purposes for having a business meeting:
- To inform and bring people up to speed.
- To seek input from people.
- To ask for approval.
Use this as a filter to determine why you are having a meeting and explain that purpose to your audience.
Conclusion
Transforming meetings from wasted time to productive outcomes is crucial for any organisation. Implementing these strategies can create a meeting culture that enhances team productivity and fosters a positive work environment.
