Productive Meetings

A part of Team Productivity Series ✨

“This could have been an email” is a common comment we hear from team members who walk out of an unproductive meeting.  In all honesty many important organisation decisions can be taken by a responsible individual. Many issues can be resolved via emails or slack threads or a phone call. A simple conversation between two people can solve most conflicts. Then why have meetings at all?

The simple answer to this seemingly obvious communication overhead cost is two words: comparative advantage. So how do we lead productive meetings?

Here is my ABC framework to run effective meetings. This simple framework is based on a typical human being’s focus threshold before they start losing steam.

1. Run only three kind of meetings in a team. A type, B type and C type.
2. A type is 15 mins, B type is 30 mins and C type is 45 mins only. A type is well suited for status meetings, B type for decision making and C type for brainstorming.
3. Declare the type of meeting in the invite along with the objective, desired outcome and the questions to be answered.

Bonus tip: Do not have more than 6 members in a meeting. For everyone else who must be informed send in the meeting notes or recordings. Give them an opportunity to share their perspectives and thoughts within a time-box.

🥂to effective meetings!