Meetings are important part of our work, but meetings can also become tedious and counterproductive if they are unorganized or mismanaged.
Use this simple discipline to ensure an effective and productive meeting every time in your teams and organization. I call it ‘TOM’.
Time: Time every meeting for 30 minutes or less. If the organizer of meeting wants to schedule for more than 30 mins, then she/he should mention a reason for the same. (for responsibly engaging everyones time)
Objective: Clearly mention the objectives and expected outcomes of the meeting in the meeting invite. (for preparing participants for the meeting and keeping the meeting on track)
Minutes: Share minutes and action items emerging from the meeting as bullet points with all the participants (for ownership and quick reference for future reconvened meetings)
This simple discipline will not only make your meetings more effective and productive, but also gradually ensure that meetings are organized only when there is an actual need to converge.
What are other practices you follow to make your meetings effective and productive? I will be happy to hear about it.
Cheers,
Piyush Singh