If I were about to walk into a lamp post, what advice would you give me? I imagine…
"Stop"
And you’d be right. I mean, why would anyone keep going on a path which was only going to get more painful?
Which brings me onto meetings…
Some of those you attend will be pointless, useless and mind-numbing wastes of time. To keep going on this path will only make things more painful. My advice to you?
"Stop"
And, by this, I mean meetings that…
- Add nothing to the business – stop having them
- Add nothing to you – stop attending them
- Include people who can’t contribute – stop inviting them
- Substitute discussion for decision-making – stop them being an excuse for inaction
- Are too long – stop putting an hour if you don’t need it
- Always start late – stop starting them late! It’s disrespectful of everyone’s time
- Nobody has done the prep for – stop the meeting, and say you’ll re-convene when people have done the necessary pre-work. Anything else will waste everyone’s time
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But people often don’t welcome this advice. They describe their regular meetings as being in a Comfort Zone. But nobody feels comfortable with them. So, it isn’t a Comfort Zone it’s a Habit Zone. Can you break yours, and avoid that painful lamp post?
Action point
There are lots of potential actions this week – see the list of bullet points above.
And how many of them should you do? Definitely more than none.