I remember reading a book titled “Death by Meeting” by Patrick Lencioni. The focus was on silos, politics, and turf wars in a business. I recently ran across an article suggesting that meetings should not last any longer than 30 minutes. I am sure some who are reading this can relate to being in a meeting that went on and on and on with no clear action and nothing done after the meeting.
Maybe implement compressed time for business meetings will remove this poor habit. 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.
Why 30 minutes? There is no scientific study, however, for me personally I see a higher level of intensity by participants because they know 30 minutes is the limit. Its seems people listen more intently when things move faster keeping us engaged. People tend to come prepared and ready to go. And if not, they will the next time.
Give it a try. Implement these three tactics to make the 30-minute meeting more powerful.
- Tell everyone to read any materials before the meeting. Ask an important question: “what outcome do we want?”
- Decide on the one thing to focus on in the meeting that will make a difference and stay on it for the 30 minutes.
- It’s what happens after the meeting that will tell you if the meeting was good or not. Act with a summary and clarity on the action steps and accountability.
How are your meetings?
Here’s to having better meetings!
Mike