a simple rule to eliminate useless meetings

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A Simple Rule to Eliminate Useless Meetings

July 01, 2013

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Ask your team to identify their biggest productivity killer and inevitably two issues will rise to

the top of the list: managing their inboxes and their meeting schedules. I'll tackle the formerin a future post. For now, I'd like to focus on increasing the value of meetings by sharing a

practice our team has implemented to great effect.

At LinkedIn, we have essentially eliminated the presentation. In lieu of that, we ask that

materials that would typically have been presented during a meeting be sent out to participants at

least 24 hours in advance so people can familiarize themselves with the content.

Bear in mind: Just because the material has been sent doesn't mean it will be read. Taking a page

out of Jeff Bezo's book, we begin each meeting by providing attendees roughly 5-10 minutes toread through the deck. If people have already read it, this gives them an opportunity to refresh

their memory, identify areas they'd like to go deeper on, or just catch up on email.

If the idea of kicking off a meeting with up to 10 minutes of silence strikes you as odd, you're not

alone. The first time I read about this practice it immediately conjured up images of a library orstudy hall, two of the last forums I would equate with meeting productivity. However, after thefirst few times you try it, not only won't it be awkward -- it will be welcome. This is particularly

true when meetings end early with participants agreeing it was time well spent.

Once folks have completed the reading, it's time to open it up for discussion.There is no

presentation. It's important to stay vigilant on this point as most people who prepared the

materials will reflexively begin presenting. If you are concerned about appearing insensitive bynot allowing individuals who worked hard on the materials to have their moment, constructively

remind the group this is a new practice that is being applied to the entire company and will

benefit all meeting attendees, including the artist formerly known as The Presenter.

With the presentation eliminated, the meeting can now be exclusively focused on generating a

valuable discourse: Providing shared context, diving deeper on particularly cogent data and

insights, and perhaps most importantly, having a meaningful debate.

If the material has been well thought out and simply and intuitively articulated, chances are theneed for clarifying questions will be kept to a minimum. In these situations, you may be
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pleasantly surprised to see a meeting that had been scheduled for an hour is actually over after

20-30 minutes.

Of course, even the best prepared material may reach a highly contentious recommendation or

conclusion. However, the good news is meeting attendees will now be able to dig into the subject

matter and share their real opinions rather than waste time listening to an endless re-hashing ofpoints they're already familiar with, or worse still find irrelevant or redundant.

In addition to eliminating presentations in favor of discussions, the following are a fewadditional practices I've learned along the way when it comes to running effective meetings:

1. Define the objective of the meeting. Asking one simple question at the onset of the meeting,

"What is the objective of this meeting," can prove invaluable in terms of ensuring everyone is on

the same page and focused on keeping the meeting on point, rather than allowing it to devolve

down endless ratholes unrelated to the matter at hand. I've seen some companies go as far asincluding the meeting objective on the cover sheet of the materials.

2. Identify who is driving. Each meeting needs one person behind the wheel. More than onedriver and it's going to be prohibitively difficult to keep the car on the road. The primary role of

this point person is to ensure the conversation remains relevant, that no one person ends up

dominating the discussion, and that adjunct discussions that arise during the course of themeeting are taken offline.

3. Take the time to define semantics (and first principles). It never ceases to amaze me howoften meetings go off the rails by virtue of semantic differences. Picture a United Nations

General Assembly gathering without the real-time translation headphones and you'll have the

right visual. Words have power, and as such, it's worth investing time upfront to ensure everyone

is on the same page in terms of what certain keywords, phrases, and concepts mean to thevarious constituencies around the table.

4. Assign someone to take notes. This should not be the equivalent of a court stenographer

documenting every word uttered, but rather someone who is well versed in the meeting's

objectives and who has a clear understanding of context that can capture only the most salient

points. This not only avoids the classicRashomoneffect -- multiple people recalling one event inmultiple ways -- but also creates a plan of record for what was discussed and agreed to. This can

also be particularly valuable for invitees who weren't able to make the meeting.

5. Summarize key action items, deliverables, and points of accountability. Don't end the

meeting without summarizing key conclusions, action items, and points of accountability for

delivering on next steps. This summary is usually the first thing to suffer if the meeting has run

long and people start running off to their next scheduled event. However, it's arguably the singlemost important thing you'll do at the meeting (and is ostensibly the reason for the meeting to

begin with). Have the discipline to ensure attendees sit tight and remain focused while next steps

are being discussed and agreed to.
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6. Ask what you can do better. I like to gather feedback at the end of meetings I'm responsible

for (particularly if it's a new standing meeting) by asking whether or not the attendees found it

valuable and what we can do to improve it in the future. There is no better way to ensure themeeting is necessary. If it's not, either change the objective and/or format, or take it off the

calendar.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and the best practices you use to run meetings more

effectively.

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Editor's Picks Leadership & Management

Team Building Lessons From A Mount

Everest ClimbJuly 13, 2013

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Teams that embark on the dangerous experience of climbing the tallest mountain in theworld can spend up to six weeks in advance developing camaraderie and trust with the members

of their climbing group. Scott DeRue, the University of Michigan Ross School professor who

reached the summit in March of 2013, argues that team development is not only crucial toconquering Everest, but also essential for business executives who want to lead high-performing

teams (seeA B-School Professor Climbs Mount Everest).

His three major team-building lessons learned while summiting Everest:

Know your team's goals and stress points. Everest is high-stakes not only because of theinherent dangers, but also because nobody wants to fail after investing years of training (and in

some cases, their life savings) in this journey. Not too dissimilar from high-potentials who fixate

on the "corner office," many climbers are completely gripped by the idea of "Everest" and havean irrational dream about what it means to summit the mountain. Other people play down the

difficultythe dangers and the accomplishment acting as if it were not a big deal. You must

assess and monitor where people fall on this spectrum. Do this by encouraging transparency,starting with yourself. Communicate your goals for the team and your personal motives. Make it
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clear how achieving the team goal can enable individuals to achieve their personal goals, and

then be honest about what individual goals will not be met (including your own).

Cultivate psychological safety. In high-stakes environments, fear is your biggest enemy to

success. There will always be unexpected events and setbacks, and fear keeps hidden the

information your team needs to be resilient. You need team members to be honest and speak upeven if their point of view is unpopular. On Everest, there are many self-protective reasons for

withholding information. Reporting a health concern might result in being seen as weak.

Inquiring about a specific climbing technique could appear as lacking adequate skills. Expressinguncertainty about the team leader's plan could be seen as defiant, inappropriate, or not being a

"team player." So, how do you ensure team members speak up, share concerns, and question

assumptions? Keep these strategies in mind:

Minimize status differences. David, for example, minimizes discussions about differencesin experience levels among team members. Scott worked with an executive who would

intentionally not attend brainstorming meetings with his direct reports, so they wouldn't

feel intimidated by his rank and hold back ideas. Tell stories, even ones that make you vulnerable. Sharing personal experiences where you

made mistakes is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it makes clear that nobody is perfect andcreates a norm of sharing in the team.

Engage one-on-one. Trust is essential. Find at least one or two commonalities with eachteam member, and demonstrate a commitment to personal engagement and consideration.

Be inclusive and forgiving. Invite and appreciate others' contributions to group decision-making. When mistakes occur, demonstrate a commitment to forgiveness. Focus on

learning, not reprimanding. Mistakes will occur, just make sure not to make the same one

twice.

Be decisive but patient. In situations with limited time and information, leaders need to bedecisive and clear but should not feel compelled to immediately make a call. Imagine being at28,000 feet with unpredictable weather, limited communication, and incomplete information.

The team is anxious. A bias for action is necessary to accomplish the team goal, protect the

group, and maintain the team's confidence in your authority. Yet, at the same time, the leadercannot afford to become wrapped up in a very emotional, high-anxiety situation. You can

prepare by consistently reinforcing "what if" scenarios in advancewhich enable you and your

team to more effectively deal with the uncertainty. But remember, under extreme stress, not

everyone will recall and be able to act on those scenarios.

To learn more about Scott DeRue's journey to the top of Mount Everest, see

PoetsandQuants.com:
http://poetsandquants.com/http://poetsandquants.com/http://poetsandquants.com/

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