Meetings help bring people together and ensure everyone is on the same page. But having too many meetings can cause more problems than they are meant to prevent. Meeting overload can drain people’s energy and destroy morale.
Declare “Calendar Bankruptcy”
The Harvard Business Review surveyed 182 senior managers about the number of meetings they were having and what their thoughts were. The Review found that 65 percent said meetings kept them from completing their work. Seventy-one percent said their meetings were unproductive, and 62 percent said meetings didn’t optimize bringing the team closer together.Productivity Improves With Fewer Meetings
Employee productivity increases when there are fewer meetings. For example, the Harvard Business Review surveyed 76 companies and found that productivity was 71 percent higher when meetings were reduced by 40 percent.How to Eliminate Meetings
Before a meeting is scheduled, the first question should be, “What is the objective?” If it’s just distributing information, there are other less-intrusive ways to do this without killing time. And if there’s not one focused objective, forgo the meeting and send an email.You also need to ask whether everyone in the meeting really needs the same information to do their job. For example, does the sales manager need to know what’s happening in the IT department? That can probably just be a Slack conversation or email.
An asynchronous communication sometimes does a better job than a synchronous meeting. A synchronous meeting is scheduled so everyone must be there at the same time. This could be in person or a video meeting. But an asynchronous communication like an email, project management tool, or even a messaging app allows employees access to the information on their terms. The goal is still reached, but time isn’t wasted sitting in a meeting.
Use Project Management Software
Project management software lets your employees track projects, meet deadlines, and stay within budgets. The software is an excellent way for employees to communicate without having to meet face to face. In addition, the communication and tracking are done in real-time, which is more productive than stopping productivity to have a meeting.What Meetings Remain
Some meetings must be conducted to keep people in a team frame of mind and to accomplish objectives. But before you start a meeting or have one of your managers conduct a meeting, make sure there’s an agenda. Everyone should receive this agenda before the meeting so that they come prepared.Agendas keep meetings on track. A meeting on sales objects can be hijacked quickly about IT problems if an agenda isn’t developed and kept on point.
There are other meetings, like a weekly or biweekly one-on-one with key employees, that should be retained.
Brainstorming or innovation meetings may also be necessary. But make sure you set clear goals for a brainstorming session. You’re here to come up with new advertising ideas, not gripe about what’s wrong with the company. Make sure you are clear that employees need to come with ideas that can be discussed. Once again, have an agenda, although it may be looser so that the meeting stays on track.
An update meeting is often called for. If there are changes in a company’s goals, projects, or budgets, these need to be communicated in person. Make sure you are clear and organized with the information. Leave a designated time for questions and comments.
Calendar Bankruptcy Just the Beginning
Declaring bankruptcy on your calendar is just the start of eliminating unnecessary meetings. Once you’ve wiped out all the meetings on your calendar, only reinstate what’s absolutely necessary to run your company or department.When you have a meeting, make sure it’s planned, with an agenda and a time limit. Eliminating time-killing meetings will allow your employees to become more productive.