Nir And Far, an expert on productivity and time management, talks about eliminating unproductive meetings and improving brainstorming sessions. They discuss the drawbacks of large group brainstorming sessions and suggest alternative approaches. They also provide strategies for preventing unnecessary meetings and valuing time and attention. Additionally, they highlight the value of briefing documents and timeboxing in meetings.
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Quick takeaways
Meetings should be reserved for making decisions, and information dissemination should happen through asynchronous communication methods.
To improve meetings, organizations should incorporate protocols that value people's time, attention, and focus.
Deep dives
The Purpose of Meetings
The main purpose of a meeting is to gain consensus, not brainstorm. Meetings should be synchronous and reserved exclusively for making decisions. Information dissemination should happen through asynchronous communication methods, such as emails and Slack messages, where individuals can absorb and digest the facts in their own time.
Limiting Meetings
Organizations should establish a high bar for synchronous communication and limit the number of meetings held. Meeting organizers should complete three steps before scheduling a meeting: disseminate relevant information and seek feedback asynchronously, circulate an agenda, and prepare a brief written digest outlining the problem and proposing a solution. These steps ensure that only necessary meetings occur and demonstrate respect for employees' time and attention.
Implementing Effective Meeting Protocols
To make meetings more worthwhile, organizations need to incorporate protocols that value people's time, attention, and focus. This includes asking individuals to brainstorm on their own, circulating agendas for meetings, and preparing briefing documents with recommendations. By adding friction to the process and requiring effort upfront, organizations can reduce distraction, increase productivity, and create a culture that values efficient and effective meetings.
We’ve all been in a dumb meeting—one that makes you think, “This doesn’t even apply to me,” “I’m learning nothing from this,” or, worst of all, “This meeting could have been an email.”
I’m sure you’ve commiserated with colleagues over what a time suck dumb meetings can be.
You can read the Nir And Far blog post on: This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck https://www.nirandfar.com/meeting-could-be-an-email/
Nir And Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/