End every meeting with the 2Ds:
- DO – agree the actions you’ll take as a result of the meeting
- DATE – during this meeting, schedule the date of the next one
The benefits are:
- DO – the meeting achieved something! It caused actions. The time was valuable
- DATE – it’s the best, quickest way to find time everyone can make. Also, there’s less chance of people ghosting you since you’ve scheduled your next meeting
Which means the two final agenda items should always be:
- Confirming our actions – who is doing what, by when
- Confirming our next meeting date
And to make sure both always happen:
- After every agenda item, the chairperson says “Before the next item, let’s quickly agree our actions for this item. So, who is doing what, by when?”
- Give yourself 5-10 minutes at the end of the meeting, to re-confirm actions, and agree the next meeting’s date
Clearly, all this is 100% obvious.
After all, who’d dream of having a meeting which didn’t cause any actions?
And who’d leave themselves open to being ghosted in the future?!
But just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it happens.
So, to ensure we always do the thing we know we should be doing…
Action Point
Look ahead:
- For every meeting, add two final agenda items – “confirming actions” and “confirming date of next meeting”
- For any meetings where you don’t have an agenda, create one! And make sure it ends with these final two items
- For other people’s meetings – if it’s appropriate during the meeting – ask “what are our actions from this agenda item?” and “while we’re all together, please can we agree the date of our next meeting?”
Look backwards:
- Reflect on recent meetings – where relevant, revisit them and agree actions, and schedule the date of your follow-up