#262 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday January 31)
Good morning,
MEETINGS, MEETINGS AND MORE MEETINGS
I am sure most of you have had the same experiences as I have with a meeting called with a target length of an hour. When you get to the meeting (now, mostly on Zoom or similar platform), it sometimes is difficult to discern who is in charge, what the purpose of the meeting might be and what is supposed to be achieved by the meeting.
I sit on several nonprofit boards and work for a living. In these positions, I’ve attended a lot of meetings—the good, the bad and the ugly. Meetings afford people some level of comfort (often misplaced) that they are “on top of things” or are actively engaged in work that moves the ball forward. Oftentimes, I think meetings are scheduled in order to fill time and provide the appearance of movement, but in actuality it’s just eating into people’s busy days with another opportunity to chat about what needs to be done, offering little progress. Meetings are valuable opportunities for collaboration and planning, if conducted properly and respectfully. During the course of over 40 years since law school, I’ve developed a number of observations for how meetings should be handled. Here they are:
Have an agenda. Every meeting should have an agenda, which should be adhered to as much as possible. People should know what is being talked about and what’s next. Those who need to prepare in advance can do so.
Send out materials in advance. The agenda should be distributed prior to the meeting. But so should any written materials that are helpful background that can help in the discussion. There should be an expectation that all participants read these materials in advance.
Have a desired outcome. This doesn’t mean that the organizer is gathering people together as a farce to get to what the chair wants. It means that there should be a desired series of actions that should be taken (even if one of them is to reconvene when more information is available). A meeting without a desired outcome is just a jam session.
Feel free to cancel. So many meetings are “regular” meetings—whether weekly or monthly—and sometimes there isn’t much to talk about. If so, don’t waste people’s time. People should know that if there is a meeting scheduled, it has a purpose and won’t be “just another” meeting. And if the agenda isn’t long, but you still want to get together briefly, feel free to adjourn the meeting early. No one will be unhappy with an early departure!
Start on time. Don’t “punish the prompt.” Start within a few minutes of the start time. People shouldn’t have to wait around until stragglers come in.
Respect people’s time and end on time (or early). The meeting should have an end point. It’s a helpful way to keep discussion within appropriate time frames and target an end. And if you’re done early, adjourn.
Recap the action items. At the end of the meeting, review what came out of the meeting, what the action items are and who is responsible (to that point, always have a single person accountable for each item of follow-up).
Schedule the next meeting and/or due dates for items. Obviously.
New business. Most agendas have an item called “new business.” It often is glossed-over but the chair should ask if there are questions, if anyone had anything to add or if there are any announcements.
Good and welfare and chit-chat time. I think most meetings should begin with a little socializing (but don’t drag it out) and they should end with the opportunity to recognize accomplishments or personal milestones, awards received, babies being born, etc. We are, after all, social animals in addition to being employees or nonprofit volunteers.
That’s my rant for today. Let’s all use our time wisely!
FAREWELL, BETTY WHITE
I was thinking about her death right before new year’s. She made it to 99 (and was only weeks shy of 100). There are other old folks among us today, including Norman Lear, Jimmy Carter, and Angela Lansbury, to name just a few. Quite a life’s work from each!
Only 2% of all women born in the year of Ms. White’s birth live to age 100. Girls born in 2011 have a better than 33% chance of living to 100.
I’VE BECOME MY FATHER
I’m sure most of you have noticed yourself doing something that reminds you of your parents. This seems to happen more and more… [yikes!] This week, it’s when I noticed I was following people around the house, turning off lights. As he used to say, “You at as if we own stock in the electric company…” Indeed.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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