Meeting Culture - Time for a Shift?
By Jason Henkel, Chief Balance Engineer
Below is an actual email to a client who just put their company through our Balance & Productivity program. The question that came to us was about how many darn meetings they have. Take a look at my response:
Thank you for that input on the meetings issue. Indeed, let’s see if that eases a bit now that hopefully more time is on your plate (more thinking time rather than "trance of doing at high speed").
In the end, the solution to this very common "too many meetings on my schedule" problem will be found in a combination of new efficiencies found from flow state, reduced distraction, and then the big lever is exercising the muscle of "no." You’ll still need to attend most meetings in your high-growth phase. Some you will need to trust the team more and evolve your power of delegation as a leader in the company just a bit more. Some you’ll need to reduce meeting time a bit. Start with moving the 1 hour meetings to just 45 minutes and the 30 minute meetings down to just 20 minutes. And then MAKE THOSE TIME LIMITS WORK by instigating a culture of being far more prepared and clear on specific needs/outcomes/decisions of each meeting. And then stand up and leave when the bell goes off to let the team know that 20 minutes means 20 minutes. Small talk will begin to leave meeting culture quickly when real constraints are applied.
Meeting culture is such a cancer when the craft of meetings isn’t studied. Microsoft Japan instigated a 15 minute maximum meeting time mandate. No meeting (outside of board meetings) are allowed longer than 15 minutes for ANYONE in the organization – ever. They make it work and suddenly the sky opened up and the meaningful work began to flow far more efficiently. I could go on until next Sunday on this subject, but a few small adjustments will move the dial profoundly on this. One must challenge thought habits and auto-pilot narratives around meetings. It’s tricky if no one is there to blow the whistle and point out where one goes back to habit out of neuro-comfort (do what you’ve always done).
Always remember, one of the big problems of the human condition (you and me included) is that our ego’s primary mission is to ensure we believe our thoughts and programs. It’s about safety, and we are survival machines. Change is a brutal endeavor, especially the change that we don’t believe in even if it statistically magnifies our health and effectiveness. The gravity of the old ways are a neurochemical phenomenon, and it’s as important as literally surviving at our nervous system level. But it’s worth the rebellion when the change is deliberately selected.
If this message resonates with you and this is the kind of issue your company may need a bit more help with, please click here and say hello!
Rebelliously Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team