Ask Christa! How can I run meetings better? (S3E35)

Introduction and Listener Question

Hi everyone and welcome to Ask Christa! the place where you can ask questions about how to work through business challenges and workplace issues. I'm Christa Dhimo and today’s listener question is covered and reviewed in SO MANY LEARNING TOOLS, and yet—every. single. company. Struggles. 

Meeting management. 

The listener question is, “I run a weekly meeting to review risks and remediation strategies for my team. We’re in consumer goods manufacturing. One of my teammates recently approached me and asked if we could reduce the meetings and only meet in person twice a month, and in the off weeks we simply receive a status update via our Slack Channel. I was open and receptive, but asked whether it was because she felt things were going smoothly and we didn’t Need to me more frequently, or because the status meetings didn’t feel like a productive use of time. She paused and bravely, though timidly, said it was the latter.  I appreciated her candor, because I’m always afraid to be THAT MEETING where no one wants to be there. How can I run my meetings better?”

OK—here’s the good news bad news: good new—there are SOOOOOO many resources out there to help you with this. Bad new—there are sooooooo many resources out there to help you with this.

But, the MOST important thing about running a good meeting – or improving them so they run better, has to do with your preparation. The second MOST important thing has to do with understanding that it’s not your meeting. As soon as you’re asking for other people’s time, it MUST also become their meeting.

The Philosophy of a Good Meeting

So let’s talk about the purpose of a meeting and who the meeting is actually for. Is it for you?

No, no it isn’t. Your meeting isn’t for you, and it’s not for your benefit. That’s just… silly.. and a little selfish. It needs to be about WORK and that in order to get that WORK done, you need to bring people together. If you’re meeting isn’t about that, then… it’s probably not a meeting.

And if you feel like YOU need the meeting for your own benefit, I’m going to ask you to think again. 

“But Christa, I need to make sure everyone’s aware of what’s taking place so they can meet the deadlines, and we're already at risk for running late and need to brainstorm a solution.”

OK--- but truly: how is that about YOU as the meeting owner? Because it sounds like you have a team of people working on something and everyone needs to be aware of what’s taking place SO THEY can meet the deadlines, and if you’re ALL already at risk for running late and need to brainstorm about a solution… the meeting is about a potentially late deliverable to something everyone should agree is important, and you need to identify and then solve whatever is putting success at risk.

THAT’S a meeting worth going to.

But the moment you make it about you—and we’ve ALL been to THOSE meetings, is the moment people lose interest. No one wants to spend time in a meeting that is designed for and catered to what will make the meeting owner feel better or focused exclusively on what the meeting owner wants to solve UNLESS it’s made clear to the attendees what’s in it for them, too. It’s about the team and the team’s success. 

So, if you want to make your meetings run better, start with how they are in service to EVERYONE in your meeting—why it matters to them, or SHOULD matter to them, just as much as it matters to you.

Then make that your philosophy and be that person who everyone loves having a meeting with. Be that person everyone says, “those are the best meetings to go to, we get so much done—it’s a good use of time.”

Because most of the time, meetings AREN’T a good use of people’s time. At. All.

The Structure of a Good Meeting

How do you do earn that reputation for having the best meetings? Here’s where structure matters, and you can find a lot of information about this online also, so I’ll be brief. In part because, it is brief.

First—what’s your purpose? WHY are you asking people to attend? You can start by saying, “The purpose of this meeting is to review areas of potential risk so we do not miss upcoming deadlines.” You can also include why THEY are being asked to attend, and it might sound like this, “Given your critical role in this project, I’m asking you to attend so we can hear your perspective and receive your contributions to mitigate the potential risk in the best way possible.”

The WHY YOU ARE INVITED sets an expectation for attendance, but it also lets them know whether they are the right people to be in attendance, and we’ll talk about that in a few minutes.

Next—what’s your objective? What do you want people to ALL say at the end of the meeting? “The objective of this meeting is to conclude with a clear, revised plan for this section of the project so as to avoid the potential risk we’ve identified.” If you think you might need more than one meeting, it sounds like this, “The objective of this meeting is to discuss the best way to revise our current plan, clarify needs, and conclude with a clear plan for next step so we can revise the overall schedule within the next… two weeks.” 

You see—the purpose, the WHY—that’s only a starting point. By conveying the objective next, you’re offering a vision for what the end will look like, which anchors everyone to a common mission for the meeting.

Last, offer a short list of topics or a DRAFT agenda—and DO NOT OVERLOAD IT. If you are having a one hour meeting, you need to have an opener to review the purpose and objective of the meeting, then a review of the problem or topic you are addressing, then if it’s a problem solving meeting, you have to stick with JUST the problem solving discussion. The number TWO reason meetings are so painful is because the agenda is way too packed. Meeting owners try to stuff everything in. 

Get to your common denominator—the one or two things that, if you focus on those, the rest will follow and remember what your philosophy is. This is about team success, so don’t try to pack everything in. Set a tone, let them know why they’re being asked to attend, what you want to accomplish IN SERVICE TO EVERYONE’s SUCCESS, and make a part of that being your next steps.

BTW, the number one reason meetings are so painful is when people show up to a vaguely written meeting subject and they have no idea why there are there. (purpose!)

Put thought into the design of your meeting, though. You are asking people to take time out of their day to gather—honor that time and prove why it won’t be a waste of it.

Start with an opener to review purpose and objective and topics or draft agenda; sometimes you may ask everyone about behaviors, like you want everyone to have a chance to speak so you’re asking for a lot of listening to hear everyone out, or you’re looking to start with two subject matter experts to review what they’re having issues with first, THEN you’ll be asking others to chime in.

After that, again, just one or two topics to review and discuss, followed by a wrap-up where you review what was discussed and agreed to, and next steps, which should include action items for the team.

Issue your design IN THE MEETING so they can see it ahead of time, and let them know it’s in there, and then follow-up USING THAT SAME MEETING as a reply-all to what was discussed, agreed to, and next steps. 

The Opt-Out or Swap-Out Clause

Now, the Opt-Out / Swap-Out Clause. Remember the purpose that tells everyone the WHY? Be open to someone opting out if they believe there is no need for them to be there. Your job is to let everyone know why they’ve been selected to attend, but if they do not believe they are the right fit for your purpose and/or your objective, you need to give them an opportunity to tell you that. You can debate attendance, but maybe after a discussion you’ll find that—you’re right, it sounds like you don’t need to be there. Or they’ll say, you’re right, it sounds like I need to be there. OR—they may say, Christa’s actually the one on my team doing that work, she’s a far better fit for this meeting than I’ll be (that’s the swap-out), then let it happen that way. 

Remember: this is about ways to run a better meeting 

A Culture of Time Respect

The last piece is more elusive, and that has to do with culture. In order for meetings to run well, overall, there needs to be a culture of respect, especially when it comes to time and how co-workers view, honor and respect each other’s… time.

If you’re in a culture where you’re in nothing but meetings, and if at least 50% of them feel like a big waste of your time, that’s a culture that doesn’t respect time.

It’s also probably a culture that doesn’t get a lot of work done—and how can they when they’re in meetings all day long?

Even status meetings—stop having them if you’re just talking about status. No one wants to be there. And if you’re there to just talk about status, then… that’s not a meeting. That’s just status, and you probably don’t have to even meet for that—just send a note. 

“But Christa, no one will read it if I send a note.”

Well, that’s a management issue related to accountability and respect… and… if they aren’t reading an email or reviewing status on your project management tool, maybe they don’t need to. Do they?

And if their performance suffers as a result of them not keeping up with status, then… that’s when it becomes a management issue related to accountability, and respect.

If this is your culture, meetings all day long, no real work being done, no understanding of why people are meeting or what they’re trying to accomplish in a meeting… I’m here to say: everyone complains about it, no one likes it, and everyone attends because they can’t get out of their own way. OR they don’t have the courage to say, “enough already, I don’t want to be in meetings all day.”

No one does.

Additional Resources

For your resources, I’ve put in the show notes a “Meeting Culture Best Practice Guide from enpact.org. It’s from April 2021. It reviews the most common best practices, some of them I’ve talked about, but goes into far more detail about the block and tackle ways of running effective meetings. It’s written in an outline form, almost like a check list, which should be very useful.

I’ve also included a page from UCLA’s Administration page about running effective meetings because there are several links included—and… I just like the concept of a university dedicating an entire page to this topic. 

And just Google the phrase “meeting best practices” to receive a lot of additional information. This is one of those topics EVERYONE talks about, but almost no one commits to doing well. It’s astounding to me.

BTW, I’m super strict about meetings, and I block meeting-free time in my schedule every day. Unapologetically.

Wrap Up & Submitting Your Questions

There it is—episode 35 tackling a business challenges AND a workplace issue!

Remember, my goal is to offer perspective, tips, support, and guidance that isn’t available in traditional settings or channels, so keep the questions coming! Go to my show’s website, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H, to submit your question, see my other episodes organized by categories, and sign up for my weekly newsletter, More Answers, which I issue every Sunday night to set you up for the workweek. 

Thank you as always for your support! And remember, if you have a business challenge or a workplace issue—Ask Christa!