Does the word “meeting’ make you cringe? Do you hear groans and gnashing of teeth from your employees every time another one is scheduled? Do you get to the point where you feel your world revolves around meetings? It seems that some companies have meetings to set up meetings to discuss the fact that they have too many meetings. If it seems that all you do is run from meeting to meeting, then what are you actually accomplishing? How much of your precious time is absorbed into the black hole of perpetual meetings?
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but business does not exist for the sake of meetings. Business exists to serve customers and it is pretty hard to do that when your people are too busy with meetings to answer the #$@%& phone. Don’t get me wrong. There is a time for meetings, but that time is not M-F 8AM to 5PM each and every week.
Just think about this. If you have just 4 meetings a week with 5 participants each, you are tying up over 1000 man-hours per year. Are you getting 1000 hours worth of productivity improvements for your time? Are you saving any money as a result of that investment? Are you even recouping the labor cost for the time employees spend sitting around a conference table? Now think about how many meetings actually take place in a given week at your company and how many employees are typically involved. I will let you do your own math, but please sit down before you add it up.
With organizations cut to the bone to stay afloat, it is unconscionable to have the best employees constantly tied up in meetings. With fewer employees to carry the workload, their time is an asset you cannot afford to squander.
Not every discussion requires a formal meeting and not every meeting needs to take an hour out of 5-10 employees’ day. Coaches in professional football spend lots of time in meetings, but when it comes to game-time, they focus on the game. In real time, they evaluate how their strategies are working and make refinements to tactics. They don’t stop and call another meeting. If they did, the opponent would score a touchdown before they settled into their chairs. Instead, they get with a few key players for a brief sideline discussion and then get back to the business at hand.
Right now, the business at hand is retaining your existing customers (customers whom your competition would love to court away), and bringing on new customers (customers who are likely already committed to another supplier). Both call for outstanding customer service, which you cannot provide when you are ignoring your customers by sitting in a daily marathon of meetings.
As I mentioned, there are times when holding a meeting is appropriate and beneficial. But for heaven’s sake, when we do hold them, they should be productive.
Don’t waste time rehashing the minutes from the previous meeting. Instead, go into the meeting with a targeted agenda focused on a specific problem, issue or opportunity. Break down the agenda into specific action items and assign them to the appropriate individual or team, being sure to specify an expected completion date.
It is easy to sit in a meeting and hear whining about poor quality, late deliveries, slow sales, etc. Each of these topics is incredibly important, but far too broad to act upon. An action item listed on the meeting minutes to “Increase sales” is NOT an action item. Devising a new marketing promotion, developing a brochure or advertisement, performing a targeted mailing campaign, scheduling training for sales reps or agents, setting up an open house, adding testimonials to the web site, SEO (search engine optimization), enacting a customer appreciation program, participating in a trade show or technical conference, presenting a webinar, issuing a customer satisfaction survey. THOSE are action items that work toward the goal of increasing sales.
Your list of action items can be broken down further into a list(s) of specific tasks and resources needed to accomplish them. The tasks can be organized into a logical sequence and acted upon by the team member assigned with their completion. The manager, supervisor or meeting chair monitors progress of task completion through periodic updates. Keep in mind that it does not necessarily require a “meeting” to receive or report on progress. A simple email or brief conversation does the job just as well. If you are already up to date on progress, then at the next meeting (sorry for use of that four – I mean seven letter word), new action items can be identified and addressed.
Without specific tasks assigned to specific individuals with specific deadlines, it is all too easy to let problems fester and opportunities pass by. Instead of progress, accomplishment and success, we end up in subsequent meetings wasting more time whining about poor quality, late deliveries or slow sales.
I had a problem with my minivan. The heater was not putting out heat. That lack of heat was not the problem, but a symptom of low fluid level. Because the radiator fluid was not reaching the heater core, there was no heat transfer to the air forced through it. The low fluid level was not the problem either, but a symptom of the underlying problem, a leaky radiator. Once I correctly identified the root cause of the problem, the resolution of the problem became obvious.
Replacing the radiator was my action item. To accomplish that action, I had to determine the resources needed (tools, ramps, trouble light, new radiator, hoses, fluid, etc.). Then I had to break it down into tasks such as purchasing required materials, assembling tools, dismantling, installation, reassembly, initial testing for leaks, with added monitoring of antifreeze levels to insure a successful installation.
Granted, it took some time to accomplish all of those tasks, but the tasks got done and the action item was removed from my list. Without breaking down the tasks, I could still be staring at the puddle of radiator fluid pooling under my van (and complaining that my heater doesn’t work).
In essence, what I have been describing is taking a systematic approach to improving the quality of meetings and the way they are conducted; Looking at them as a means of continuous improvement of the organization toward the goals of reduced costs and improved customer satisfaction rather than as a meeting for the sake of meeting.
