Author: Rajesh Patil (PMI-ACP, CSM,
CSPO, MS in Engineering Management and Leadership)
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/pmrajpatil
Email: pmrajpatil@gmail.com
Meetings kill Projects
Meetings kill Time
Meetings kill Budget
Meetings kill People (Not literally)
Meetings kill Companies
If not planned well and if they have no clear purposes, meetings are over-kill.
According to me, meetings are for making decisions and decisions only, they are not for educating, discussing or solving problems.
In one of the organization I consulted before, meetings were burning cash and the project was going no-where.
Looking at this situation, my job was to stop this madness and change the way meetings are attended and organized.
To address this problem, I implemented two rules that were immediately effective:
1. All meeting attendees will complete a three questionnaire survey before attending any meeting
- Do you understand the purpose of this meeting? yes, no
- Do you agree with the agenda of this meeting? yes, no
- Can you help solve/improve the discussed problem? yes, no
If the attendee answers "no" for any one question, then its advised to not attend the meeting because he/she will be wasting his/her and others time
Normally, people who answer "no" are the trouble makers and they constantly put roadblocks to decision making; as mentioned before meetings are for making decision and its better to remove all roadblocks.
2. All organizers should maintain a "Meeting Cost Chart" by calculating an average cost of every meeting they organize, just to make sure that the meeting is really needed and is worth the time and money spend.
This will make the organizer think twice before he/she invites attendees and he/she will understand the value of the meeting.
By just introducing these two simple rules, the company started to see a outstanding positive shift in productivity and big cut-back on unnecessary meetings.
Some of the positive changes in the organization were:
Meetings kill Projects
Meetings kill Time
Meetings kill Budget
Meetings kill People (Not literally)
Meetings kill Companies
If not planned well and if they have no clear purposes, meetings are over-kill.
According to me, meetings are for making decisions and decisions only, they are not for educating, discussing or solving problems.
In one of the organization I consulted before, meetings were burning cash and the project was going no-where.
- Teams from multiple remote locations are jumping on a call one after other just because their calender asked them.
- Every meeting is attended by 40 participants and has no prior clue on what's discussed in these meetings.
- Every participant is multitasking , browsing emails, chatting, socializing and in-between raising unrelated concerns just to show involvement.
- Participants are not looking for commitments but involvement so they have their name on the project and they feel engaged.
- Decisions are never made but a decision for another meeting is made after every meeting.
- All employees were busy, super engaged and had no capacity left to do real work because they have to attend meetings.
- Productivity was at the lowest and confusion with lack on knowledge about any project was all time high.
Looking at this situation, my job was to stop this madness and change the way meetings are attended and organized.
To address this problem, I implemented two rules that were immediately effective:
1. All meeting attendees will complete a three questionnaire survey before attending any meeting
- Do you understand the purpose of this meeting? yes, no
- Do you agree with the agenda of this meeting? yes, no
- Can you help solve/improve the discussed problem? yes, no
If the attendee answers "no" for any one question, then its advised to not attend the meeting because he/she will be wasting his/her and others time
Normally, people who answer "no" are the trouble makers and they constantly put roadblocks to decision making; as mentioned before meetings are for making decision and its better to remove all roadblocks.
2. All organizers should maintain a "Meeting Cost Chart" by calculating an average cost of every meeting they organize, just to make sure that the meeting is really needed and is worth the time and money spend.
This will make the organizer think twice before he/she invites attendees and he/she will understand the value of the meeting.
By just introducing these two simple rules, the company started to see a outstanding positive shift in productivity and big cut-back on unnecessary meetings.
Some of the positive changes in the organization were:
- Employee Engagement
- Knowledgeable Staff
- Cost Savings
- Increased Productivity
- Less Gossips
- More Focus
- Quicker Decisions
- Products Faster to Market
- Less Stress
Next time when you attend or organize a meeting, try this and see how a simple changes can make huge positive impact on you.
Disclaimer: My blog is my personal opinion and not connected to my employer or employees. Everything I write is wholly my personal experience and opinion that's not been validated or certified by anybody.
If you have concerns or questions regarding this article, please contact Rajesh Patil at pmrajpatil@gmail.com
- Knowledgeable Staff
- Cost Savings
- Increased Productivity
- Less Gossips
- More Focus
- Quicker Decisions
- Products Faster to Market
- Less Stress
Next time when you attend or organize a meeting, try this and see how a simple changes can make huge positive impact on you.
Disclaimer: My blog is my personal opinion and not connected to my employer or employees. Everything I write is wholly my personal experience and opinion that's not been validated or certified by anybody.
If you have concerns or questions regarding this article, please contact Rajesh Patil at pmrajpatil@gmail.com
