Business Acumen: "To meet or not meet, that is..."

Meetings are an important part of getting work done, sharing information, and ensuring everyone is on their tasks. However, we often see there are too many meetings, and the majority are not productive - actually they are counter productive. 

Things to consider about holding meetings: 

1. It costs money! - Think about a meeting you recently attended. How many people were there? Then estimate how much each person makes an hour and add that up. Also consider time for IT support, admin work scheduling the meeting, and other tasks that must be accomplished to conduct the meeting. It all adds up to a realistic cost. 

2. It takes time away from other work - There are meetings that are important, but consider you are  taking employees away from their daily tasks to attend a critical meeting. 

3. Technology has greatly improved communication - There was a time, before cell phones, online chat, email that meetings were critical to improving communication. 

So when do you hold a meeting? 

• Brainstorming - you have a problem that requires a group of people to help identify a solution. Meetings that are problem-oriented, solution focus are often worth the time and effort. 
• Share information that requires feedback of those attending - Maybe you have a new process and you require feedback from employees to ensure they understand it. Good opportunity to hold a meeting. 
• Training - Time to roll-out new processes, procedures, or policies. Conducting training not only helps employees understand what is expected, it gives them the opportunity to ask questions, and for you to gain feedback. 
• Project kick-off meetings - These are important as it allows you to clearly identify the project and the expectations of each team member. 
• Social Interaction meetings - It is a great idea to periodically get people from the same working group in a meeting to help meet social needs. A group lunch, holiday get-togethers and team building have a great purpose. 

​There are other good reasons to hold a meeting, but ensure they have a specific purpose, a deliverable that you can point to after the meeting is over.

When not to meet?

• Meet to Meet - Monthly or weekly recurring meetings without any of the needs above being met are not a good reason to meet. 
• General Update Meetings - Sounds like a good idea. Holding a meeting so everyone knows what everyone else is working on. But, does this information provide concrete steps for others to take once they learn about others tasks? 
• Staff Meetings - Generally these are not a good idea. They were before the advent of technology to improve communications, but today, you need to consider that most people attending a staff meeting interact daily through email, text, online chat and one-on-one conversation. 

The next time you consider calling a meeting together ask yourself a few questions; "What will I learn from the meeting that I could not learn some other way?", "What is the deliverable to expect from the meeting?" Yes, you should have something to show from your meeting. (See our blog articles on agendas such as "Effective Meeting Agendas." Most importantly, "How much will it cost in money and lost time from work and is it worth it?" 

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