The Cost of Ineffective Meetings

I came across this tool today https://hbr.org/2016/01/estimate-the-cost-of-a-meeting-with-this-calculator..... and it got me thinking about how many ineffective meetings I observe and have been part of. The stat that made me stand up was......

In a study of time budgeting at large corporations, Bain & Company found that a single weekly meeting of midlevel managers was costing one organization $15M a year!

In most meetings I observe people jump straight into content i.e. discuss what they think they are there to discuss. They are usually limited on time and therefore feel under more pressure to get straight down to it and discuss the topic. The truth is that by short cutting the effective meeting process they usually end up achieving far less than they would have if they had had absolute clarity about what they are there to discuss, how they are going to use their time and [for certain topics] how they will make a decision. 

There are so many reasons why meetings become ineffective....I am not going to focus on those. What I am going to do is share a way to make every meeting effective...by using a tool called PPCCR.....

Purpose

What does every one think the purpose of the discussion is? It is important to check in with everyone that they are all on the same page and have absolute clarity about what you are looking to achieve in the time together. If the purpose and objective seem unrealistic in the time allowed – re-contract to try and do something achievable.

Process

If that is the purpose, what is the process you need to follow to ensure you meet it? You don’t need to map the whole process for a long discussion – you may agree on the first part and decide how to progress as you are half way through. If part of your desired outcome is to make a decision at the end of the discussion, you should agree how that decision will be made. By the leader with input from the team, by vote or by everyone showing agreement.

Content

Having got clear about purpose and process – discuss the real issue or question that needs to be resolved. Putting in process does not negate time for free debate – it just ensures that it doesn’t stop you from achieving your aims. Be mindful to watch time and if you feel a change in the purpose or process needs to be discussed based on the nature of your conversation then do it.

Commitment

At the end of your discussion, confirm the decisions made and agree the actions taken.

Review

Finally, on longer meetings build in time to review ‘how’ you ran / are running the meeting. In meetings over a few hours it is great to have a 5 minute review at mid point and then at the end. Check in with everyone on what is going well and how it could be improved to meet the objective, at the same time as making it a good experience for attendees.

Like a pair of new shoes, they may feel uncomfortable at first, but the more you wear them in, the more comfortable they feel.

Give it a go....and let me know how you get on.