23 February 2023
You will hear comments like this every day. Again and again, a hundred times, a thousand times. And this list is not even exhaustive. Whether we are muttering angrily to ourselves or smoothing each other’s ruffled feathers in the corridors, these kinds of statements are made repeatedly, and we often find ourselves biting our lip or trailing off mid-stream. Such comments are the expression of ineffective management that has its roots in laziness or cowardice. And they are also frustrations that lead to ineffective meetings. An organization’s meeting culture should be considered most efficient when as few meetings are held with as few participants and for as short a duration as possible.
To what extent is laziness or cowardice – the two real causes of meeting inefficiency – the reason behind this? Why are we scheduling more meetings with more participants than necessary and why do we have to sit for so long that our buttocks go numb? Let’s look at the examples quoted in the opening section of this article.
“I DON’T HAVE TIME! I’M IN MEETINGS ALL DAY”
Time is not a mere resource; it is a priority. This is a fact that many people still struggle with. The statement “I don’t have time” should be removed from the vocabulary of every manager capable of reflecting on his or her responsibilities. For each of us, there are 24 hours in a day, and we must strive to increase the amount of time we have available. The successful managers are not the ones who attend all meetings, then complain and try to puff themselves up with a comment like the one above. Successful managers attend as few meetings as possible – and if they do, then only for as long as is really necessary.
It is therefore sheer laziness not to reflect on these correlations, and it is cowardice not to think about the implications. When you are invited to a meeting, why not ask critically: “Why do you need me at the meeting?” If it’s not about making a decision or explaining complex contexts, you can equally provide the information that is required from you in another form.
“ONE MEETING AFTER ANOTHER.
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHEN I’M SUPPOSED TO DO MY WORK.”
There are two observations to make about this by no means rare comment:
Firstly, a meeting is ranked as of lesser value than what you “actually” want to do or should do. Aha?! Here, you should overcome your laziness and ask yourself: “What information must I necessarily have, and what decisions must I necessarily be present for? When and at what sort of intervals?” The emphasis is on “necessarily”. It’s obviously helpful or nice to know about all sorts of things, but what information do I absolutely need in order to do my job successfully? If you rigorously thin out your schedule after answering this question, you will be amazed at how much freedom of maneuver you suddenly have. And that’s not all: by stepping back, you will have more discretionary time, making you a more successful manager. In addition, you reduce the number of participants in meetings, which increases the efficiency of the entire organization.
Secondly, it is simply a manifestation of cowardice to delegate responsibility for your own time to the system, to the organization, as if you were not also the master of your calendar! It is all too easy to make a commitment to be present at every meeting, or to schedule meetings for just about anything. Which meetings are actually necessary? This question segues nicely into the next phenomenon.
“THAT WAS A COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY MEETING. WE HAVEN’T MADE ANY PROGRESS.”
Fortunately, sending out an agenda for every meeting is good practice in almost all organizations. But unfortunately, an agenda is just a plan, a list of what is to be presented or discussed. I am more in favor of drawing up a list of desired outcomes: What do we want to leave the meeting with? It makes a big difference whether the agenda says “Product portfolio” or “Decision on the design of the product portfolio”. The former invites all kinds of interpretations and opens up room for endless discussions. The second requires targeted preparation, possibly in the form of a decision template. Those present at the meeting can then select from several alternatives on the basis of a previously conducted evaluation, within a clearly regulated decision structure.
Image: AdobeStock Nattanon
So, where do laziness and cowardice come into the picture here? Laziness consists of accepting meetings that are not driven by a results-oriented agenda and where it is not clear what the results will be at the end. Cowardice is the failure to demand better. Pluck up your courage and ask: “Who is going to do the preparation so that the meeting runs efficiently and we only need 30 minutes instead of an hour and a half?”
If decisions are to be made, ensure that any decision-making vacuum is eliminated before the meeting and that pseudo-democratic and almost endless discussions are excluded.
“I AM TOTALLY OVERSCHEDULED.”
This statement is an expression of complete powerlessness. It is not uncommon for managers to hand over control of their calendars entirely to their secretary and to accept everything that gets entered into it.
A managing director of a company I know was of the opinion that he could hardly say no to the appointments proposed by the holding company, so he had to accept them. Why shouldn’t he be able to say no? All it takes is a little courage! It is perfectly sufficient to make a friendly phone call and ask for clarification of what exactly is to be achieved at the appointment and whether attendance is actually necessary or not. Is this not an option because the company you work for demands silent obedience from you in this regard? If that is the case, look for a new job. Good managers are always in demand.
“WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? THEY DIDN’T EVEN BEGIN TO DO ANY PREPARATIONS FOR IT, AND WE HAD TO DO ALL THE WORK IN THE MEETING.”
See also the observations on the last-but-one statement. And if all preventive measures (as described above) fail, then overcome your cowardice and have the courage to make your position clear in such a meeting. As soon as you realize that nothing productive will emerge from the meeting, it is important to say politely in a results-oriented manner: “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t think we can deal with the points to be clarified in a productive way. We need to have prepared ourselves better.” Then make sure that the relevant tasks are unambiguously assigned and that the results of the preparatory work are distributed and read by everyone before the next meeting. In this way, you can ensure that only the contentious and critical points need to be discussed at the meeting itself. Cowardice and laziness must be banished from the organization! We cannot group-think; we can only discuss and decide things together. Meetings are not for thinking – that has to happen beforehand.
“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT I WAS AT THAT MEETING FOR.”
It’s beginning to dawn on you, and it gradually becomes clearer and clearer: as soon as you realize that you have stepped into a “meeting trap” and are now stuck here until it releases its grip on you, break free by saying:
“I have the impression that I can’t really make a contribution here. I’m not necessarily involved in the decisions, nor do I bring any decisive or new information to the table. I can easily read the results of the meeting in the minutes.”
And then politely say goodbye. That is how to overcome cowardice.
Matthias Kolbusa
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