Have you ever been in a meeting that went on and on and on with no clear action and nothing done differently afterwards? I know I have, and this common experience is the premise of the book Death By Meeting by Patrick Lencioni.

Lencioni suggests that meetings should not last any longer than 30 minutes.  As Parkinson’s Law indicates, work expands to fill the time available, so if you don’t set a limit to the meeting, it can drone on way too long.  And especially these days, now that Zoom meetings are the norm rather than the exception, we need to keep meetings short and to the point so we can all get away from our webcams.

Why 30 minutes?  I have not found a scientific study to explain why; however, for me personally, I see a higher level of intensity by participants because they know 30 minutes is the limit.  It seems people listen more intently when things move faster and we are engaged.  People tend to come prepared and are ready to get started on time.  (And if not, they will the next time!)

Try implementing these three tactics to make your 30-minute meeting more powerful:

1. Tell everyone to read any materials before the meeting. Ask the important question: “What outcome do we want?”
2. Decide on the one thing to focus on in the meeting that will make a difference and stay on it for the 30 minutes.
3. It’s what happens after the meeting that will tell you if the meeting was good or not. Take action with a summary and clarity on the action steps and accountability.

Try some of these tips for your next (30-minute) meeting and let us know how it goes!  We’d love to hear your feedback at mike@trilliumfinancial.com.