Ensure meetings trigger actions (Part 1 of 2)

Meetings are supposed to cause things to happen after them.

That’s the point of having the meeting in the first place.

But most meetings are tedious Talking Shops. Lots of talk. No action. And with a duration of exactly one hour.

Instead, the best, easiest way to ensure a meeting triggers actions…

… is to identify the actions during it.

And the simplest way to do that is:

1. At the end of every agenda item, ask “What are our actions for this item?”
2. And then for each action, agree the ‘WHO / WHAT / WHEN’ = WHO (which person) is doing WHAT (which action) by WHEN (their deadline)
3. As you agree each action, write it in a three-column table – with columns titled WHO, WHAT and WHEN
4. Immediately after the meeting ends, share this table with everyone, reminding them to do their actions before the next meeting

And remember – when sharing these actions – delay is never good. So, send these actions immediately. This might be your only chance of success!

Action Point

1. Create a WHO / WHAT / WHEN template
2. Before a meeting, open the template
3. During the meeting, populate it with the actions agreed
4. Immediately after the meeting, send the completed table to everyone