Leadership Pet Peeve: Equal Time At Meetings
Today, I was thinking about what I dislike about meetings. It was a huge chunk of my morning. I obviously dislike meetings a lot! The scary thing is, I thrive working in a group environment. I figured out that it was not being in a meeting I disliked. It was how people run them.
That's her 29th Slide!
Planning meetings are critical to the success of most organizations. We have all sat through them. One of my biggest pet peeves in these meetings is the idea that everyone should get a formal opportunity to present.
Planning Meetings: Big and Small
Equal Time in Big Meetings:
Why does every marketing representative get to present 3 or 4 slides to the audience? Why do we need to hear every update from every department?
Unfortunately the answer to these questions has to do with someone’s ego or the fact that meetings have always been done that way.
Equal Time Avoidance Principles
- If nothing has changed from the last meeting, the person does not get the podium.
- If the only things to change were the colors, lay out or pictures in a marketing piece, the person does not get the podium.
- If the same data is going to be presented in a breakout session, the person does not get the podium.
Equal Time in Small Meetings:
Why should the team have to listen to each person drone on about their own business plan for the upcoming year? Why does each person get an opportunity to lead a workshop?
“We have always done it that way.” Or “It is a great growth opportunity for the presenter.” These are not good answers. The leader must be sure the meeting is about the team not an individual.
Equal Time Avoidance Principles
- If that person is not in the top 10% in strategy and planning, they do not present their business plan.
- If they are not the best at it, they should not be teaching on it.
- If presenting is a development exercise that does not add value to the rest of the team, the presentation does not belong at a planning meeting.
My father, General Jim Anderson says, “Meetings are those things that happen when people sit around talking about what they should be out there doing.”
Meeting discipline begins with those who are planning and running the meeting. The purpose of the meeting must first be clear in their mind.
If the meeting is a planning meeting like I described, then it needs to be focused on what is coming, not what is in the past. While those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Those who live in the past hate the taste of the present and drown in the future.
The Bottom Line:
The person planning the meeting must be very careful who gets the podium and why they get it. If the answers have more to do with that speaker’s needs or position, then we should all be spared from hearing from them.
If it does not add value to the majority of the people at the meeting, it should not be part of the meeting.
A great book by Patrick Lencioni is Death By Meeting. The title says it all. But inside the book we can all find tips to make meetings better. Whether it is meetings in the work place or in non-profits, meeting discipline is needed.
As a person who has led good meetings and bad meetings, I apologize for to the attendees for giving people equal time when they should not have gotten it.
Question:
What was the longest meeting you ever sat through?
I can’t immediately recall the longest meeting I’ve ever attended…I try to forget those! But I will share my pet-peeve when it comes to meetings.
Whether it’s a planning and strategy meeting, or a staff review meeting, if it takes a turn of negativity, whether by the presenter or an attendee, it goes sour and stays sour. Those are the most unproductive meetings I’ve ever been involved in. Negativity feeds on…more negativity. Fueling the flame! And there’s no value to that type of meeting. So then I end up spending that meeting time thinking about all these other productive things I could be doing – dreading the fact that I am sitting through this meeting!
But how do you head that off? How do you bring that meeting back to the ‘real’ reason for meeting? I’ve tried multiple things, and failed terribly – now that’s negative! I’m thinking I need to get Lencioni’s book. A meeting like that surely sets the tone for the rest of my day, everyones day I’m sure.
A couple of things I say to make people realize we are in a bad and spiraling out of control conversation:
Let’s try to think of 1 reason an idea will work, versus 3 reasons it won’t.
Instead of focusing on the 5% of customers we won’t get or this won’t work on, let’s focus on the 95% it will.
Are these situations something we have control over at our level? If not, we can have 5 more minutes to complain and whine. Then we need to focus on the things we can control and solve problems.
Some of these may be out of context but I hope they help in some way. Get the book too!