September 29, 2009

As individuals and business leaders, we’re always searching for new ways to increase our productivity: Whether it’s figuring out the most efficient way to organize our to-dos, super-charging our computers’ RAM so we can run a gazillion apps, or whipping out that Blackberry to check our email during the commute. Yet the moment that we converge in a group – for that ancient (and often draining) business ritual called a “meeting” – we too often throw caution to the wind, and productivity out the window.

How often have you felt like a meeting could have taken half as long? Or that your entire day was taken up by meetings, and you didn’t get anything “real” done? Ask anybody in the workplace about the five things they hate most about their job, and meetings will undoubtedly top the list. But the problem with meetings isn’t the act itself so much as the failure to attach any accountability to its outcome.

Meetings, like Action Items, should have specific, actionable goals: Rather than “Discuss Project A,” think of more focused goals, such as, “Determine budget and workflow for Project A.” 

They should also have a designated “owner,” who is vigilant about ensuring that the meeting achieves the stated goal. Too often, we call a meeting to solve a specific problem, only to find ourselves wandering off into the hinterlands as new ideas come up and overtake discussion of the original objective.

As a purpose-focused facilitator, the meeting owner keeps everyone accountable by doing a few things:

1) Stating the meeting’s purpose at its start.
Why are we here, and what are we supposed to accomplish? Laying out the objective and setting the meeting’s tone is one of the owner’s key responsibilities.

2) Taking notes (if required by the group).
Some groups find that each attendee taking notes becomes redundant and subjective. By appointing one impartial note-taker, the team is free to focus on the conversation at hand, and able to later recount their discussions without bias.

3) Keeping the meeting on track.
Meetings are wont to wander into territory unrelated to the initial goal. When this inevitably happens, the meeting owner redirects conversation back to the matter at hand. If an important but off-topic idea pops up, the owner makes a note so that it can be revisited later in a separate meeting if need be.

4) Articulating next steps.
To wrap things up, the meeting owner does a quick rundown of the gathering’s highlights, ensures that everyone knows their Action Steps, and takes charge of scheduling the next gathering if need be.

 ***This post by J.K. Glei is based on research by the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

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