We have too many meetings but every meeting is created to meet a need. Often, we don’t define the need (or purpose) of the meeting before setting it or consider that there may be a better way to meet that need.
Acceptable Purposes for Meetings:
- Communication/ get info from others/share info with others
- Decision-making
- Planning and coordination
- Team building and collaboration
- Feedback and Evaluation
- Innovation/ Creativity/Brainstorming/ Problem solving
- Training and Development
- Conflict Resolution
- Cultural and Organizational Alignment
- Save time or reduce confusion that occurs with other forms of communication such as email
Not so Acceptable Purposes (some may be acceptable for the circumstance):
- Express the importance of an action that is needed (it might be blown off if it was an email)
- Micromanagement
- Get time with someone when they are not available to catch in the hall or office
- Decision-making by committee/ distributing accountability/ avoiding accountability/ distributing risk
- Venting/ socializing
- Accountability
- Keep yourself or others on track with a project/ Accountability/ Keeping project top of mind
- As a workaround to account for other meetings not meeting their intended need
It is not as easy to avoid not-so-acceptable purposes. This often comes from the culture of the organization. For instance, if processes like tiered meetings are not properly implemented, then additional workaround meetings need to be had. Or if we overburden people with activities, expect them to communicate with too many people to accomplish their job, do not implement proper project management tools, do not give them clear priorities/tools, or allow people to ignore other types of requests/communication then meetings are used as workarounds.
Alternatives to these purposes when appropriate
- IM
- Project management
- Collaboration Tools
- Video messages
- Surveys and polls
- Clear organizational expectations and accountability (meetings are a workaround)
- Shared Documents
- Dashboards and Reports
- Brief Status Updates
- One-on-One Check-ins
- Workshops and Training Modules
- Standard Operating Procedures
- Automated Notifications
- Discussion Forums
- Actionable Reports
In general, we should work in a way that balances efficiency and allows others the time to focus on the critical work. Each meeting needs to have a purpose defined and then set the meeting to meet that purpose. When it makes sense an alternative should be used.