Time
I hesitated before writing this piece as I wondered if it might land as overly simplistic or even just very obvious.
And yet, after many years in people/HR roles and well over twenty years coaching, one of the elements of corporate culture which seems to me to be most stubbornly resistant to change is our addiction to meetings.
Even now, and I coach generally at very senior levels, many coachees are struggling with their diaries and it becomes apparent that countless meetings each week are one of the root causes along with other facets of keeping out of the weeds.
I’ve battled with this type of cultural issue myself. When I arrived into my HR Director role in one organisation I discovered a “meetings culture”. People’s diaries were log-jammed. It was culturally tricky to decline an invitation. There were meetings to discuss how to reduce the workload and…you guessed it…the meetings overload.
Meetings about meetings, therefore. Grim.
There was insufficient ownership of the issue at senior levels.
And here’s the thing: I believe the only way out of the endless, energy-sapping conveyor belt of corporate meetings is through sustained behavioural change – starting with managers and leaders.
The good news is that I believe you can do something about this. Today.
There are various examples of ideas that have worked in a very specific corporate context. We’ve heard about standing meetings and walking meetings, haven’t we?
I’m a fan of the latter but not necessarily with the objective of saving time – more for the change of perspective they can offer, sometimes to the point of really calming people down as we try to resolve a dispute.
My advice would be to try some of these simple ideas:
1. Unless it is linked to a regulatory requirement, reduce the frequency of every recurring meeting. Just do it. Now. Every three weeks instead of every two. Every ten weeks instead of every eight.
2. (Whilst you are at it, reduce the frequency of regular reporting. Every fortnight instead of every week. Would anyone care?)
3. Adjust the duration of meetings – 35 minutes instead of an hour. Wow – the complaints when I did that! “You can’t have a 35-minute meeting Tony”. Please explain why not. I gained an answer but not a satisfactory one.
4. Get a grip of your own diary (close it to public view if necessary) and be prepared to say No. Time is an asset so guard it as such. Be more requiring of people who ask for your time. “We’d like you to attend an all-day meeting with 20 other people”. Hmmm – if you already have 20 people do you really need a 21st?
5. If you are supported by a PA/EA, and not everyone is, ensure their top priority is to protect your time and not to facilitate everyone else’s entry into your diary. It may well already be but it’s worth checking.
6. In every meeting write down the total number of attendees, multiply it by the duration and there you have the total time investment. Even better, multiply that by the average salary of those attending. Ask the attendees if the ROI is sufficient to keep on having the meeting.
7. Do that every time. Then every few months add up the cost and decide (discuss?) whether an investment request of the same amount of money would be authorised. Or even requested.
I experimented with all of these over the years. With some success but some battles as well. It’s hard. People will object because it’s different. It requires change.
But as I said, if all managers/leaders adjusted their behaviour in these ways then we might start to kill those unnecessary meetings.
Remember – meetings don’t just happen.
This is about you and your behaviour.