10 situations when a meeting is NOT necessary

?Unnecessary and lengthy meetings are still one of the top corporate monsters.

Too many unproductive meetings is one of the things that employees list when asked what they dislike in their workplace.

I would like to share with you my insights as to when we should not convene or participate in a meeting. And when other means of communication are better.

What I share below is based on my work experience as well as findings from my studies into the subject:

1. If nobody is responsible

Just because somebody is sending invitations for a meeting does not mean that this person is a stakeholder or that he/she is going to manage the meeting and its outcome.

Check who (if anyone) assumes responsibility for the meeting, who is the main stakeholder and how this person presents objectives of the meeting. Does this person have a clue what he/she requests from you and why ?

Who would lose if the meeting did not take place ? Maybe no one…? Then why bother?

2. There is no agenda

Without an agenda in which topics and objectives to be dealt with are set in advance, there is no reason to meet. Never. If no one knows what the meeting is for, why should we spend out precious time just to see what will happen ? This principle has never failed me – I remember no single meeting without an agenda that resulted in anything than just senseless back and forth and ego pleasing. Learning through experience I has stopped participating in meetings without agenda, whoever was the inviting party. And taught my direct reports to follow this principle.

3. If there are more effective means of communication or addressing the issue

Quite often meetings are convened just to pass some information or data to the attendees. No discussion is planned, no participation of others is called for. The objective has been attained before the meeting. Then why convene this meeting in the first place ? Why cannot email communication be used instead, with a clear advantage of: precision in communication and ease of presenting data that are supposed to be shown to the addressees. Of course there might be other reasons like cheering up the audience, selling the new idea and watching how the involved people react. The reason for such a get-together might also be a kickoff of a project that usually calls for a meeting to be convened. Barring that, meetings are not a good idea where the intention is to just pass information, data, results, conclusions or procedures.

The above 3 are quite intuitive. Now slightly more tricky circumstances when not to convene a meeting.

4. If the real intent of a meeting is to spread managerial responsibility to others in the organization

On many occasions I have attended meetings which turned out to be just a vehicle for offloading or spreading responsibility for a task or a decision by the manager who convened the meeting. It may go like this:

-      Manager A has been asked by his/her boss to make improvements in the processes managed by manager A (after some faults have resulted in financial losses for the company). The message from the boss is clear: manager A is responsible for the faulty processes and has to change them in order to eliminate the faults and prevent further losses.

-      Manager A convenes a meeting with a header: “processes X, Y, Z” with a stated objective – “discussion about the processes X,Y,Z”. It seems like a consultation meeting and therefore managers from various departments are invited. And they accept.

-      As the meeting progresses it is plain to see that Manager A solicits ideas from other managers as to how processes X,Y,Z should be improved. But it turns out that these inputs from managers become decisions, commitments and tasks to be performed by the attending managers. By use of manipulation, Manager A turns his/her own responsibility into responsibilities of others. When asked by his/her boss about the status, Manager A may point to other managers as the ones who can best push things further. If need be, Manager A can even claim that it is other managers who hinder the changes that Manager A would have easily implemented.

-      If the necessary changes have not been implemented (the processes are still faulty) then it is clear what Manager A will surely do… Fortunately for Manager A others have “committed themselves” to doing something, although they may not even be aware of this “commitment”.

That is why it is absolutely essential to request minutes from every meeting. Especially so if we deal with corporate-manipulators of this kind.

5. If the topic does not affect you directly

If you are not involved in the topic/problem to be discussed at the meeting, there is no reason for you to attend. Even if the organizer tells you that he “values your input” (which is very ego pleasing). Say no. Attend only those meetings in which your participation brings value. Moreover by saying NO in such situations you decline to serve as an alibi/pretext in case of failures by others. If an undertaking of another manager fails, he/she may subtly suggest that you have had a say in the project meetings and could have performed better in order to prevent the failure. Even though it was no your area, the topic did not affect you….

6. If meetings become conferences

Avoid meetings that you cannot actively participate in, meeting in which you are just an observer of a conversation between two people or somebody’s speech. Therefore, it is important to always appoint a moderator (in advance) to ensure compliance with the stated agenda and objectives. A meeting should not revolve around just one person and their speech. The meeting should be useful to exchange ideas, discuss and offer proposals.

7. If meeting’s organizer shows no respect to participants

For meetings to be productive it is important that they start on time and finish as planned. And that they stick to the agenda and stated objectives. Also, everybody’s speaking time should be respected and supervised by the moderator. If any of these is lacking, I’d rather avoid attending such meetings. If the person convening the meeting is known for disrespectful behavior (does not show up on time, uses mobile phone during meeting etc.) – in general do not accept meetings from them. Except for situations when you have to be there.

8. If there are too many participants

Meetings with too many attendees are unlikely to be productive. First you will not be able to have meaningful conversations but rather cursory quick exchanges of ideas (if any at all). Second – if every participant is granted some speaking time, then given that so many people – either the meeting becomes very lengthy (past the planned end-time) or the individual inputs from the attendees will be short, with no time to provide details, and absolutely no time to discuss. Then why convene a meeting if there is no discussion ?

9. If you have other priorities

Regardless of how important you are for this meeting (in the eyes of the organizer), you first assess whether this meeting relates to your goals (or the goals of your organization - as you see them) and what place it takes on your priority list. Of course after you have checked that you could bring value to this meeting (if not, do not bother with any further assessment).

If any of these 2 assessments results in NO – then it is better to work on your higher-priority tasks instead. You should suggest the organizer that the meeting be rescheduled. Or you can suggest another key participant in your stead. In this way you maintain a good relationship with the person who proposed the meeting.

The same applies when a meeting’s scheduled time is far too long, given the objective and issue to be discussed. Long scheduled times quite often indicate poor meeting’s management and lack of respect for participants. It also tells something about the culture in the organizations… So avoid long meetings.

In the same vein - avoid meetings that affect your productive working hours, take that time to work through the most important tasks.

And before deciding whether to attend that meeting or not, we should ask ourselves if it will be really productive for us and it won’t mean a waste of time. If we stop attending unnecessary meetings, we will be improving our productivity.

10. Improvised meetings

Meetings should be convened in time to be able to organize the agenda and allow participants enough time to think over the subject and prepare their inputs. Do not allow impromptu meetings to interrupt your planning. Except in crisis situations. But these are by default rare.

Krzysztof Gradzik