It’s no secret that I’m a stickler when it comes to meetings. And I’m not alone. Nobody likes wasting time in ineffective meetings, and sadly, it feels like everyone’s been there. So I talked to Steven Rogelberg, author of “The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance,” to get to the bottom of why meetings are the way they are, and what we can do to make them better.
When it comes to meetings, Steven Rogelberg is truly an expert—he’s been researching this topic for 20 years. And he can confirm what I’ve always
known: People hate meetings. However, he makes a compelling case for them too, as a mechanism for communication, cooperation, consensus decision-making. And since we can’t get rid of them, he broke down some techniques that you or I can use to actually make meetings better.
Be the host
Start any meeting like the host of an event would. Steven elaborates, “The host welcomes people. They thank them for coming. They express gratitude. They smile. They have a good attitude. They make introductions when people don’t know each other.” Research shows that bringing that kind of energy and positivity is actually contagious.
Be a steward of other’s time
As a meeting leader, you have to recognize your role as a steward of people’s time. He encourages you to imagine scheduling a meeting with leadership. In that case, you would make sure to be organized, on time and make the meeting worth it. Do that for every meeting, no matter who you’re meeting with, and suddenly you’re hosting more effective meetings.
Embrace the agenda
According to Steven, the meeting agenda is where the magic really happens. His advice? “Consider creating your agenda as a set of questions to be answered. Ask yourself what you’re trying to solve in the meeting.” You get a better sense of who to invite, because they’ll be relevant to the questions. And you’ll know if it’s a good meeting because the questions have been answered in a compelling way.
Try silent brainstorming
If your meeting goal is to gather some new great ideas, try the silent brainstorm. Steven explains, “The research shows that if you have two groups, one brainstorming verbally and the other brainstorming silently and writing down ideas, silent brainstorming groups generate nearly twice as many ideas and those ideas tend to be more creative and more disruptive.” Not only is it more efficient, it’s an equalizer—people can bring their true self to the brainstorm.
Give a little time back
Ever heard of something called Parkinson’s Law? Steven explains, “It’s this idea that work expands to fill whatever time is allotted to it. So if you schedule a meeting for an hour, magically, it’s going to take an hour.” Steven challenges us to really think about how much time the meeting needs to be, and schedule accordingly. Finally, he recommends always ending a meeting 10 to five minutes early—because when you add a little pressure, groups tend to be more focused. And this gives your people time to take a little break (or get to their next meeting).
Want more tips on how to architect the ideal meeting?
You can find great resources, learn more about Steven Rogelberg and purchase his book, “The Surprising Science of Meetings” at StevenRogelberg.com.