The Surprising Science of Meetings

by Steven G Rogelberg

  4. If the meeting includes five or more people, it is also useful to consider alternative structures. These can include the use of subteams and leveraging meeting intervals.

  * * *

  1 This chapter is a bit different from earlier chapters in that research on practices to improve these meeting types is not as plentiful. As a result, I am leaning more here on my experiences in working with organizations as well as on practices that can reasonably be inferred from related research.

  Chapter 11

  PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

  Meetings are a foundational characteristic of any organization, and bad meetings should never be accepted as an organizational norm. Meetings are a hefty investment. In the United States alone, we spend over a trillion dollars on meetings per year. We should demand a strong return.

  A few times in this book, I have cited Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, who likened stolen time to stolen office equipment. I would hazard to say that there is no single investment that organizations treat so carelessly, with so little evaluation or drive to improve, than meetings. Instead of actively working to mitigate the direct costs and indirect costs (e.g., frustration, opportunity costs), we accept bad meetings as a way of life. We treat bad meetings as just a cost of doing business. At the same time, I disagree strenuously with management guru Peter Drucker’s assertion that meetings should be eliminated because they are indicative of bad organizations. Without meetings, it is hard to imagine an organization thriving, innovating, and being agile and resilient over the long term.

  Successful organizations, and successful leaders, understand that small, positive changes—say, one meeting every week—can lead to palpable gains for the organization and the health, motivation, and engagement of its employees. By now, you’ve probably gathered that poor meeting practices run rampant in many organizations. However, the uplifting news is that so much time can be recouped with a thoughtful approach to meetings. Reclaiming a mere 10 percent of employees’ time, applied across an organization, will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line. In this final chapter, I will tie together the lessons in this book and share a last call to action. These take-home points fall into five categories: (1) visualization and anticipation, (2) preparation, (3) mindset, (4) active facilitation, and (5) reflection.

  Visualization and Anticipation

  Most organizational activities, especially those dealing with clients, receive some level of anticipatory thought and planning. This may be as little as five to fifteen minutes. But still, it is recognized that some amount of contemplation is essential for carrying out an activity effectively and in a manner that honors the time of others. As a meeting leader, if you simply take a bit of time to think through—to visualize—the meeting, the flow, the key needs, and the key challenges in advance, you will improve the chances of ultimate success. Alternatively, you can more actively engage in the anticipation process by engaging in what is called a “premortem” (aka prospective hindsight) prior to the meeting. In this approach, the leader imagines that the meeting has failed and then works backward to ascertain potential explanations for the failure. By using this technique, the leader can plan the meeting event to avoid or allay the problems present in that scenario. This due diligence is so helpful to ultimate success. And, again, it can be just five to ten minutes. These reflections then feed into the next class of advice: preparation.

  Preparation

  There are a host of decisions that need to be made, and made well, prior to the start of the meeting. These decisions should be purposely made, rather than decided out of habit and tradition. They concern meeting time, agenda, attendees, and the context for the meeting. As I covered in Chapter 4, Parkinson’s law states that work expands to whatever time is allotted for it. As you prepare for a meeting, keep this in mind and take the time to conscientiously choose the length of your meeting (based on the goals, agenda, attendees, etc.). As you plan the meeting time and length, do not discount the benefits of an odd length or start time. If this recommendation is too counter to your culture, consider following in Google’s footsteps and replace your hour-long meetings with meetings that are fifty-five or even fifty minutes long (or reduce any meeting by five to ten minutes). You’ll likely find that cutting these few minutes will reduce lateness and will create just enough positive tension to make your meetings that much more productive.

  As we saw in Chapter 5, the meeting agenda is not the panacea that almost all self-help books on improving workplace meetings offer. Specifically, research shows that just having a meeting agenda does not result in a more satisfying or effective meeting. In order for agendas to be effective, meeting leaders have to be intentional about them; they need to be thought out carefully and approached with care, like planning an event. Also, keep your agendas fresh! Do not open your go-to agenda Word document, change the date in the upper left corner, and print it out to bring to the meeting. A good tip for making an agenda that is meeting specific—and will also increase accountability—is to ask attendees for items to include on the agenda. Beyond this recommendation, I suggest that meeting leaders place items that have to be covered near the top of the agenda. If you always have status updates at the beginning of the meeting, consider moving that toward the end. In line with ensuring that particular material is covered, contemplate using time allotments. I recommend that they be considered on a meeting-by-meeting basis—they are not necessary for effectiveness, but they have their place. If you’ve never used them, or have only used them occasionally, try including them. If you have employees who rarely participate, consider assigning them an agenda item to “own” as a way of engaging them and helping to develop their leadership skills.

  It seems reasonable to assume that as meeting size increases, effectiveness will increase; after all, you have a greater number of ideas and resources and more brainpower. In Chapter 6, we reviewed some of the evidence that this, unfortunately, is not the case. Having too many meeting attendees typically equates to too many voices, logistical challenges, and even social loafing. Too many attendees can be problematic, but simply cutting people from the roster is not without complication. Employees who do not receive an invitation to a meeting can feel excluded. You can’t blame them—as humans we have an innate need to meet, and when we’re invited to something, we feel as though we belong. Thus, by cutting down the invite list you may find more than a couple of despondent employees. To solve this problem, determine how many people are needed, then provide nonessential personnel the opportunity to be involved in a more appropriate way. In an attempt to advise on the “right” number of meeting attendees, I first recommend reviewing your meeting goals to determine who the relevant and necessary parties are. When you identify who the key decision makers or stakeholders are for accomplishing each goal, you will have a much easier time making decisions about the invite list. If some people are required for only a short period, consider a timed-agenda approach: invite different groups of employees to a portion of a meeting that is most relevant to them. It is more likely, however, that you will have a number of people you could make an argument for attending, but they are not really needed. Inviting these ancillary stakeholders will in all likelihood result in an overstuffed meeting. For these individuals, instead of inviting them, try a different approach. Consult these ancillary stakeholders before the meeting to get their input—this will lead to feelings of involvement despite their not being invited. At the same time, take excellent meeting notes (including identifying owners of certain post-meeting deliverables) and distribute them to all, including these ancillary folks. The third prong in addressing meeting size is keeping an invitation on the table for these folks to attend future meetings, if desired. My last advice for keeping meetings to a manageable size is to consider “representative voices,” where you assign a meeting attendee to represent the collective interests of a group of stakeholders, like a department, who are not invited to the meeting. This person attends the meetings and is accounta
ble for representing that larger constituency, including keeping them in the loop.

  In Chapter 7 we established that we, as humans, fall easily into a pattern of habits and rituals. We tend to have meetings in the same room, at the same time, with the same people, in the same chairs, with the same general meeting approaches and processes. This can result in stale meetings. I have provided a number of ways to introduce variety into meetings; one technique is to change the seating arrangements in gatherings. It may seem basic, but whom folks sit next to, across from, and far away from can absolutely affect their meeting experience and the overall meeting quality. As you’ve likely noticed, people tend to sit in the same spots at these meetings over and over again. Consider changing seating arrangements by simply asking attendees to sit somewhere different, introducing placards, or changing the table setup or meeting venue. If you’d like to get rid of the chairs altogether, introduce some variety in your meetings by trying a walking meeting. The benefits of walking are well established: everything from reducing obesity and heart disease to increasing creativity and focus. It is important to keep in mind that walking meetings are best for two to four people, they still need to be planned, and they should involve an outdoor, circular route (though slight variations on this are welcome). A last recommendation is to try the standing meeting. Like walking, standing has health benefits over sitting. Beyond health, standing meetings are linked to greater meeting satisfaction and efficiency. Standing meetings can work for larger groups of people, but they should be shorter so as to prevent fatigue—fifteen to twenty minutes or so.

  Meeting Mindset

  The leader’s meeting mindset is a key predictor of meeting success. In Chapter 3, I explained the concept of a giver or servant leader; this mindset drives how the meeting leader facilitates the meeting. If you adopt this mindset, you will plan and lead your meetings with the understanding that it is your duty to make the meeting a good use of time and value for all. Conversely, some leaders may choose to derive power from controlling or dominating a meeting; this person often features him- or herself in all discussions and interactions. This takes energy—energy that leaves little bandwidth to actively manage the dynamics of the meeting. With a servant-and-giver mindset, leaders do not use the meeting to elevate themselves; instead, they actively prepare and participate in an effort to facilitate a good meeting experience. The leader manages crucial meeting dynamics: engaging all attendees, asking the right questions, modeling active listening, drawing out input, playing traffic officer, and managing emergent conflict. Such leaders seek to facilitate actively but without foisting their will on others. These actions build trust, safety, and honesty and generate terrific amounts of input, innovation, and buy-in.

  All this being said, none of this precludes the leader from being directive and moving the discussion forward when that becomes necessary. With a servant-and-giver leader approach, this process will be perceived as more genuine by the attendees. They will understand that the leader is acting on their behalf and is committed to the meeting’s outcome. Overall, the servant leader takes pride in being a steward of others’ time, recognizing that this is the path, ultimately, to success.

  Active Facilitation

  Because meetings can be experienced as an interruption, meeting leaders should work to promote positivity the moment attendees enter the room. There are several techniques for doing this: you can play music or enthusiastically greet attendees. You may find that offering snacks is a more attractive option to achieve this goal. Julia Child did say that “a party without cake is just a meeting,” but I make no promises that this will elevate the meeting to a party.

  Beyond the steps you can take as attendees arrive, it is imperative to start the meeting off on the right foot. Offer a purposeful opening statement, consider some of the prompts I provided in Chapter 8 (e.g., recognizing group accomplishments), and remind attendees of the “meeting values.” To encourage mindfulness (i.e., presence) once the meeting is underway, discourage multitasking during the meeting. Some companies have eliminated cell phone and laptop or tablet use altogether. You may find this to be too much. There may be good reasons to allow some technology in your meetings (phones in case of emergency, laptops for notes), but remember, none of us is as good at multitasking as we think we are. To sustain the momentum from these recommendations and to keep things fresh and engaging, it is important to facilitate meetings with variety. You should consider using clicker quizzes, advanced role playing, partner discussions, and even stretching; these techniques promote good energy and mindfulness throughout the meeting.

  If you’d like to move beyond more conventional techniques, try incorporating silence into meetings. Meetings with periods of silence, when employees are generating new ideas or forming their own opinion of ideas being presented, can be beneficial because they can counteract production blocking, groupthink, and social loafing. In Chapter 9, I described some techniques for incorporating silence into meetings: brainwriting and silent reading. Brainwriting involves silently writing ideas about a particular topic before sharing the ideas with others in the meeting. Although silent brainstorming may seem counterintuitive to the purpose of meetings, research shows that brainwriting can produce more ideas and increase creativity. To introduce brainwriting, offer index cards, scrap paper, or even Post-it notes for attendees to write down their thoughts and ideas in response to a prompt. Sort the ideas, then vote on them or have a written discussion about them. The second technique that builds on silence within meetings is silent reading. With this method, the typical start of meeting, idea or initiative, and PowerPoint presentation are ditched by having employees silently read a proposal (or other discussion fodder). This can then be followed by a meaningful discussion. Silent reading can increase employees’ understanding and retention of the new idea and it can also save time by cutting out the presentation and decreasing pre-meeting preparation.

  Finally, it is almost inevitable that you will, at one time or another, lead meetings that are not entirely face-to-face. Someone may be traveling or you may be working with attendees who are not colocated. Under these circumstances it is essential to recognize the unique challenges associated with remote meetings and how to overcome them. It is important that you consider alternative ways to structure meetings of this type (e.g., shorter meetings, interval meetings, pre-meeting data collection). Further, be comfortable in fully embracing your role as an active “taskmaster,” drawing attendees in by name, asking questions of particular individuals, and considering banning the mute button to reduce multitasking.

  Reflection

  In Chapter 3, I gave you the bad news: chances are, you’re not quite as good at leading meetings as you think you are. Relax, you’re in good company. Evidence shows that, across all ages and walks of life, we are likely to overestimate our abilities. Now, we may be equally as good at evaluating our leadership skills as we are at seeing the backs of our heads without mirrors, but in accepting this reality, we can work on self-awareness and making improvements.

  When it comes to meetings, there are signals that, if we actually look carefully, inform us about meeting quality and our leadership. Are attendees on their phones throughout the meeting? Are attendees engaging in a host of side conversations? Are attendees reluctant to disagree with one another? These are all negative reflections on our meeting leadership. When we are doing the majority of the talking and attendees are not actively participating in discussion—you guessed it—this is a negative reflection on our leadership. When we get these signals, our attendees are giving us feedback. Needless to say, if these signals are present, change is warranted.

  Putting this informal scanning of cues aside, the best practice for leaders is to periodically evaluate their regular meetings. The evaluation should be quick and easy: a survey given to all members containing a handful of questions (e.g., things to stop, start, and continue doing). These data will increase your self-awareness as a meeting leader and give you a more accurate picture than
your perceptions alone. Once you receive feedback, you can implement change—the sort of change that will promote effectively facilitated meetings and attendee appreciation for actually caring about them and their time.

  The Bottom Line

  Poorly conducted meetings clearly hurt leaders, teams, departments, and organizations. The answer is not eliminating meetings. If we eliminate meetings, the organization suffers, as meetings have the potential to serve so many positive purposes. First, meetings allow individual attendees to interpersonally connect with one another, which serves to build relationships, networks, and, most important, support. Second, meetings can be an ideal venue to bring together ideas, thoughts, and opinions—things that should help each person perform his or her job in a better, more coordinated and cooperative manner. Third, meetings enable leaders and employees alike to create a shared understanding that promotes efficiency and teamwork. Fourth, meetings build commitment to goals, initiatives, and broader aspirations that may not be explicitly stated in any individual job description. Employees can see they are part of something bigger than themselves. Finally, meetings bring individuals together as a coherent whole. As a result, this coherent whole can be more adaptive, resilient, and self-directing, especially in the face of crises.

  My hope is that, as a meeting leader, you try new approaches, and you experiment to improve your meetings. You need not try everything at once; in fact, you can try just a small number of things and see how it goes. Then, with time, you can add more. And more. Make this an active process. Try, reflect, and learn. Try, reflect, and learn. Not only will you see a direct improvement in your meetings, but the process will communicate to those around you that you are willing to experiment, to take reasonable risks, and to grow. This, in turn, helps build a culture of innovation and success. Furthermore, it will hopefully inspire others around you to do the same with regard to their meetings. Next thing you know, a greater return on the meeting investment is occurring as a broader enterprise. Together we can fix the current dysfunctional state of meetings, one meeting at a time. At the very least, as a meeting leader you can fix the meetings you lead and control.