Should We Have This Meeting?

Meetings are supposed to be productive. You are expected to bounce off ideas, come to some conclusion to effectively solve any problem. But, if too many meetings are being held then your efficacy is reduced. You hardly get time to do any of your designated work, because you are meeting people for the purpose of various “meetings.”

Should We Have This Meeting? (Infographic Decision Tree)

This is a problem faced by many corporations where people are coming in and out of meetings to solve many problems. However, this results in “meetings” themselves becoming a problem.

Instead of spending time having mundane meetings which aren’t productive, it is important that before conducting one, we should ask whether it is essential or not.

If you have doubts about having a meeting, you should ask yourself these questions to determine whether the purpose is genuine and fruitful. Or it will be a time-wasting exercise.

The primary question that should pop in your mind is whether the topic is worthy of a meeting? If no conclusion will come out even after a congregation, then you should probably skip it completely.
In case the topic is an important one, could it be resolved with a collaboration without a meeting? If collaboration is possible to get the solution, you can opt for a quick online chat or run a survey or collaborate on the task on your PM tool.
If the topic cannot be resolved with collaboration, then you need to assess whether it requires the participation of all members or the participating group can be limited?
You can limit the people attending the meeting if required or call all members. If the group has any authority to act on the agenda of the meeting, then you should go ahead or else there is absolutely no point in wasting time when nothing can come out of the discussion. When you can’t act on anything discussed in the meeting then the entire agenda will be pointless.
Alternately, only key members of the team and decision-makers can attend the meeting. This will save the time of other participants who can be more productive elsewhere. However, if despite everything, even they can’t contribute any valuable inputs, then having this meeting will be a futile exercise.
Are the participants requested for some pre-work, prior to the meeting? If yes, then it is important that they come prepared with that work in order to save the time spent.
Is there any clear agenda and expected outcomes of the meeting? If not, then it is important to come up with a defined plan regarding what output you expect from the meeting and how you are going to do that.
The next point of consideration is whether the proposed outcome will be feasible with the time and resources available?
If this is not possible, either you should alter your goals or reschedule the meeting when it is possible to get to the end of the discussion.
If there is enough time to discuss everything that is on your plate you should have a strong facilitator in attendance.
In case you don’t you need to find a person, who can steer the meeting towards the intended goal without offending the participants and getting positive inputs from them.
Once all of this is place, you are all set to hold a meeting.

These pointers can help you save time by avoiding holding unnecessary meetings which not only waste your precious time but also reduce the productivity of the company.