Attack of the Mutant Meetings
By: Dave Smith
Tags: Management, Company Culture, Dads, Startup, Leadership

Attack of the Mutant Meetings

Photos courtesy of Unsplash

Mutant meetings are taking over.

Infiltrating the workplace. Extending tentacles into our status updates. Check-ins. An alien, virtual universe. Arranged in Brady Bunch squares. Forcing Dads to stare at our image. Hour after hour after hour. As our hairline recedes. And jowls grow. Morphing us into Zoombies.

Honestly, an alien mind-meld seems the only explanation. For our collective ineptitude. Conducting meetings. Which continue to control our calendars. Consume our attention. Drain our people. And hinder company growth and performance.

Despite all our experience, meetings remain pitifully run. Over-scheduled. Poorly facilitated. Rarely covering the agenda. If there is an agenda. Unclear action plans or take-aways. Leaving participants confused. Frustrated by the wasted time.

Worst of all, meetings are boring. Oh, so boring. Mind-numbingly boring. Teammates allowed to drone on and on. About all their activity. Or 60-page decks. Screen-shared. In a mice-type. With endless spreadsheets to follow.

This mutant meeting assault is working. And the most insidious part; nobody seems to notice.

Critical Connection

Meeting together is good. For all employees. In all businesses.

Huddling up creates connection among team members. Humans need connection. Formal. Informal. Virtual or in person. Collaborating on business challenges. Collective problem-solving. Debating new concepts. Or just checking in with one another.

Gathering as a group forms bonds. Builds trust. Establishes the camaraderie necessary for cohesive teamwork.

So, meeting is good. But meetings are bad. Fortunately, any Dad can make meetings better. Here are some practical steps.

Less is More

The threshold for holding a meeting is too low. In fact, there is no threshold. Anybody can schedule a meeting. And invite basically, anyone.

Choosing to spend the firm’s most valuable asset, people’s attention, on a meeting requires discretion. Scrutinize regularly scheduled meetings. Determine which are worthy of the company’s investment. And how many truly need to attend.

For example, status updates are most efficiently communicated via shared docs. Published on collaborative platforms like Teams, Slack, or Base Camp. All team members have full visibility on headway towards milestones and deliverables. In real time.

Public documentation of progress eliminates the need of weekly team catch-ups. The typical around-the-horn recitations of activity that wastes everyone’s time.

Start by killing recurring meetings. Then say “No.” to others. Most others.

Briefer is better

Research has shown humans cannot focus on a single topic for more than 18 minutes. Yet, meetings are scheduled for an hour. (Or thankfully, a half-hour.) Back-to-back-to-back. No breaks. All day. Every day.

Why do we do this?

The default calendar invite in Google and Outlook is one hour. So, guess what? Meetings are scheduled for 60 minutes. Whether the topic requires an hour or not. Then we mindlessly expand meetings to fill the time allotted. No, I’m not making this up.

Make the firm’s default meeting 25 minutes. In some cases, 50 minutes. Leave time in between for folks to catch-up on their work.

Clarity is King

According to surveys, 63% of meetings don’t have pre-planned agendas. There’s no justification for shirking this responsibility.

Explicitly clarify the firm’s Meeting Ground Rules. For example:

No published agenda, no meeting

Hosts distribute pre-meeting materials for review. Assign pre-work. Facilitate the discussion (or appoint a Facilitator). Ensure post-meeting action steps and responsibilities are designated and communicated.

Participants are expected to review advance materials. Engage with cameras and mics on. No sifting through Inboxes, text streams or feeds during meetings. Participate or bow out.

Purposeful Agendas

Start simple: what’s the purpose of the meeting? Solve a problem. Make a decision. Brainstorm ideas. Learn from customer feedback. What outcome can be expected from the meeting?

Additionally, hosts should:

Lay out the meeting timeline

Publish topics to be discussed (2–4 max — too many meeting topics dilutes effectiveness)

Focus on the most important items first

Distribute presentations and any pre-work so invitees come prepared

Allocate ample time for developing Action Plans, assignments and follow-up expectations

Good agendas make for good meetings.

Facilitation

Meandering meetings are frustrating. The opening topic eats up the bulk of the time. A handful of teammates dominate the conversation. Discussions get derailed by minor issues. Several participants don’t chime in. And the meeting ends abruptly without clear next steps or assignments. Uggh.

Someone has to own facilitation. Keep to the schedule. Involve all participants. Close off topics and move on. End debate with time to finalize action steps. Assign responsibilities. Determine how to follow-up and hold participants accountable.

Facilitation is not trivial. And can’t be short-changed.

Engaging Discussion

Meetings are wasteful without interaction. Limited discussion or debate. When invitees are talked at rather than challenged to think. Or contribute.

To better engage participants, ask their opinion. Everyone has an opinion. And they’re happy to share it. If you don’t need their perspective, don’t invite them.

Robust meetings start with plenty of pre-planned questions. Specific to the topics. With loads of follow-ups. To spur conversation. Solicit input from all. Skeptics as well as supporters. With healthy conflict comes fresh ideas. And innovations.

Well-prepared questions create engaging meetings.

Actionable Next Steps

Too often, meetings end before the most important part. Action plans. STOP the meeting. Make time to complete action planning. Assign responsibilities. Gain commitment. Then publish the action plan so all can see next steps. And hold one another accountable.

Work is stressful. Busy. Hard to turn off. For Dads. And Moms. Mutant meetings are a major cause. Consuming our day. And mindshare.

Applying best practices can end the mutant meeting attack. And free up time. For each of us to focus on our top priority. Being a great Dad.

Go Dads, Go!