![]() ![]() Frustration, resentment and even hopelessness are signals that people are falling back into bad patterns. Finally, we’ve found that it’s critical to regularly and openly take stock of how people feel about the meetings they attend and about their work process more generally. Over time, new norms can take hold.ĥ: Regularly debrief as a group. Small, tangible wins provide something for people to celebrate, and small losses provide opportunities for learning and correction. ![]() As with any change effort, it’s important that measurable progress be assessed and discussed along the way. The additional “white space” in everyone’s calendar increases individual productivity and reduces the spillover into personal time.Ĥ: Set milestones and monitor progress. For example, declaring “meeting free” periods forces the whole group to reevaluate meetings that were normally scheduled during those times and ask who really needs to attend. We’ve found that personal benefit from the group’s initiative is a great motivator. Contributions and analysis from all team members generate the widespread understanding required for the remaining steps.ģ: Agree on a collective, personally relevant goal. However, delegating the data interpretation to an outside consultant can undermine success. This must be an open, nonjudgmental discussion of the survey or interview findings. Next, it’s critical to come together as a team or a unit to consider everyone’s feedback and analyze what’s working and what’s not. That will help you gauge the full extent of the problem: You’ll learn how much resentment is bubbling under the surface and how much work isn’t getting done during the day.Ģ: Interpret the data together. Use surveys to gather data and impressions from every individual. Escape the meeting trap by working together to follow five basic steps:ġ: Collect data from each person. With a structured approach to analyzing and changing meeting patterns throughout your team or unit, you can make significant improvements. The good news: We’ve found that it’s possible to transform meetings instead of just tolerating them.īecause so many people are involved in scheduling and running the meetings we attend, it takes collective effort to fix out-of-control meetings. Consider the executive who stabbed her leg with a pencil Did that staff meeting advance teamwork or set it back? Instead of improving communication and collaboration, as intended, bad meetings undermine those things. They overlook the collective toll on productivity, focus and engagement. ![]() When they sacrifice their own time and well-being for meetings, they assume they’re doing what’s best for the business. But why would anyone defend dysfunctional meetings? Because executives want to be good soldiers. They often foster relationships and ensure proper information exchange. To be sure, meetings are essential for enabling collaboration, creativity and innovation. When we looked into why people put up with the strain that meetings place on their time and sanity, we found something surprising: Those who resent and dread meetings the most also defend them as a “necessary evil”-sometimes with great passion. That kind of change is rarely considered, however. ![]()
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