Running Meetings That Get Things Done

First question: Does it need to be a meeting?

Among the necessary evils of the workplace, meetings are a top contender, if not the most dreaded medicine that people tolerate.

It's not that meetings are always so terrible, but it seems that more often than not, they loom over corporate life, like a warden putting people through their exercises.

They can be so much a detraction that people take to blocking off "productivity hours" or "focus time" solely to fend off meetings in exchange for "real work." Some of us may know meeting-happy colleagues whom others evade like the boogeyman. Three or more meetings on the calendar might just render the entire day null.

There are two main reasons why meetings feel like a waste of time. Either nothing's getting done or the same thing could have been done in a much easier way and without corralling everybody together.

Conscientious meeting etiquette will not only eliminate unnecessary meetings and yield more efficiently-run ones, but also distinguish us as professionals who know what they're doing and perform on a different level.

So before you throw another 30 minutes on somebody's calendar or send out one more video chat, walk through this checklist and challenge yourself to refine your approach.

1. Ask Yourself If This Needs to Be a Meeting

The best kind of meeting is no meeting. If there's a much easier way, then do that instead. If there's no purpose at all, then just don't do it.

Here's a quick way to figure out your purpose: What do you want to get out of this meeting? What are you hoping is going to happen?

We all have no shortage of "check-ins" and "standing" meet-ups on our calendars. But just calling something a check-in isn't good enough.

If the answer comes easily - you have a list of questions to ask, a proposal to share, or a decision to confirm - then you can feel confident about your purpose.

If the answer is ambiguous - you want to check in on a task, see how a project is going, see what people think about something - then that's a sign that you might want to brainstorm more. The options are simple. Either don't call the meeting until you've got a clear purpose or send your thoughts in an email or chat instead so that people can respond on their own time, if a response is needed at all.

Meetings that have a useful purpose include:

• Personal & Social: Getting people together to hang out or catch up socially (yes, you can do that at work!) or checking in with someone personally to see how they're doing.

• Projects: Discussing a predetermined set of issues (it doesn't have to be written down, you just have to know what they are) or regrouping at a project milestone.

• Troubleshooting: Explaining instructions that are too complicated or confusing to be understood in writing.

Meetings that probably aren't the best use of time:

• Personal & Social: Checking in with someone who doesn't need or want to have frequent check-in meetings or is too busy for them.

• Projects: Standing weekly/monthly meetings where there isn't a fixed agenda and no one has indicated in advance that they have anything to discuss.

• Troubleshooting: Discussing anything that (1) is easily or even better understood in writing, (2) doesn't require a lot of back and forth, or (3) could easily be an executive decision made by one person.

A clear purpose is a non-negotiable starting point. Even if we had superpowers, it'd be hard enough to keep multiple independent-minded people coordinated and on track. It just wouldn't be worth gathering people until there's a clear purpose for the meeting itself.

2. Curate an Exclusive Guest List

What do you call a meeting that has more than 3-4 people?

An email. Once we do the math, it's obvious that meetings should generally have a maximum of 3-4 people.

If we start with 5 minutes of small talk + each person gets around 5 minutes to talk + 5-10 minutes of wrap-up and goodbye, that's already past the 30 minute mark of a typical meeting.

And that's the best case scenario assuming everyone is prepared and gets straight to the point.

A meeting with too many people means that either some people don't get to talk or it runs over time and makes everyone annoyed and late to the next thing. So whittle down your exclusive guest list until you've got your 2-3 VIPs.

3. Give Everyone Equal Talking Time

Everyone should always get an equal time to talk.

The main reason is a practical one: if someone is in a meeting where they don't need to talk, why are they there? They can just read the information in an email.

There may be a few exceptions to this for business or confidentiality reasons, but in general, no one's time should be disrespected by getting dragged into a meeting where their presence is not making a difference.

The second reason is a social one: When people get to an equal voice in the conversation, not only do they feel more invested and engaged, but the team dynamic is improved by the back and forth discussion. Ideas are actually processed and absorbed instead of merely presented and left on the table.

4. Your Meeting Agenda is Your Multi-Purpose Best Friend

Your meeting "agenda" doesn't have to be a formal itinerary printed in gold leaf; what an agenda really needs to be is that list of "What do you want to get out of this meeting? What are you trying to do?" items that we brainstormed in step one.

It can be a Word document, a bulleted list emailed to the meeting attendees beforehand, or even just notes jotted on a napkin.

Which form you choose will, of course, depend on the context and how much formality you want. A project milestone might warrant a formal agenda whereas an ad hoc meeting to troubleshoot some questions should be more casual.

Here's why your agenda is your all-purpose best friend:

Time Management: It helps you allocate time and keeps you moving along. If you have one big issue and three smaller issues, you can decide to allocate the first half of the meeting to the main issue and the latter half to the remaining ones.

It's not always easy to move the conversation along, but if you have an agenda prepared, all you need to say is "Let's move on topic #2 to make sure we have time for everything I've got planned."

Meaningful Contributions: With you as their trusty guide, your colleagues will be able to bring their notes and insights to the meeting feeling confident that they are on-topic and able to address concrete issues. This is especially true if you choose to send out a meeting agenda ahead of time, but even without prior notice, you'll see the difference in how a more organized meeting can elicit better quality reactions, debates, and ideas from others.

Exhibit/Screen Share Preparation: Your agenda items will tell you what links, files, or web pages you'll need to have ready for others to look at and follow.

If you have a question about a spreadsheet, you'll know that you need to have that spreadsheet either printed out for an in-person meeting or ready to share on your screen for a virtual meeting. No need to waste a few precious minutes trying to pull up something that you could have prepared a few minutes earlier.

Action Items: This one is all-important! In all seriousness, hold your guests hostage until you settle your action items coming out of the meeting.

Think of an action item like a resume line. It should start with a verb and describe an achievable, finite goal - bonus points if it's something quantifiable or otherwise has an easy way to measure success.

Action items should also be articulated clearly: "Let's all brainstorm three more ideas and regroup," "I'll email the other team and let you know how they respond," "I'll think about this about come up with a list of suggestions."

Without action items, a meeting falls short of being useful. It might have been fun, engaging, and educational, but you need the follow-through to see results.

5. Bonus Points: Be Brave About Cutting Things Short

Giving back isn't just for charity. You can also give people back their meeting time if things get done sooner than expected (because you were so efficient!) and let people move on with their day.

Nothing feels better during a stressful workday than getting out of a meeting early. It's not as great as a snow day, but we'll take what we can get.

It can be daunting to cut a meeting short because we (mistakenly) interpret this as wrong. A short meeting might feel like you were unproductive, not engaging, or failed to achieve your goals.

On the contrary, a short meeting more often suggests that the group was competent and worked well together.

Rather than talking in circles or talking over or past each other, which extends the length of a meeting, people who collaborate seamlessly are the ones who get straight to the point and form an understanding. These are the ones you might find just having fun and chit chatting at the end of every meeting because they have extra time and enjoy being around each other.

Not that you should ever feel the need to cut off a fun conversation, but you should always feel comfortable ending a meeting decisively if everyone's accomplished their goals. There's no need to use up the rest of the time just for the sake of it.

Although some people might try to go through the motions for appearance's sake, you'll look far more capable by making a rational and resolute choice.

With these skills, meetings can go from being things we dread to powerful tools that help us hone our skills, achieve our targets, and carve out a strong professional brand!