Ever been in a meeting and wondered, “What are we even meeting for?!?”
We all have.
One of the leading reasons for bad meetings, is because they are called for the wrong reasons, or for no reason at all.
The Question Before the Meeting
Meetings get called for all the wrong reasons.
Because of disorganization.
Because a leader doesn’t know what’s going on.
Because a meeting simply repeats every week.
Because people confuse meeting with doing work.
Because, well just because.
I have even seen managers call meetings because they were lonely. (Not a joke. And not funny.)
In most companies, anyone can call a meeting about anything they want.
(Scary from a productivity standpoint, if you think about it…)
Before any meeting happens, you need to ask why you are having it in the first place.
“Ask before every meeting, ‘What is going to be accomplished in this meeting?’”
In other words, “What is the purpose of the meeting?”
If you can’t answer this simple question, then you should cancel the meeting.
Meeting Without a Purpose
Meetings are one of the largest time-wasters in most organizations. (Second only to email.)
They prevent people from getting their work done by locking them in conference rooms for endless, often mindless, discussions that do not produce results.
If there isn’t a purpose, there isn’t a meeting.
It’s really that simple. If there isn’t an outcome, decision, or action… there is no need to meet.
Every meeting has a cost in time, money, and productivity. Make sure you justify each and every meeting before your schedule it.
Question: Does your company have meetings that don’t have a purpose? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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