Are meetings really necessary?

The problem with regular meetings is that it is always the "same" people attend, the "same" discussions are had and the "same" conclusions reached, with no real effective decision made. If you were given the agenda in advance, you could easily guess what each person is likely to say to each discussion item. In fact, you could probably write the minutes without anybody bothering to turn up.

Before setting up a meeting, we really should ask ourselves these few important questions:

• Do we need to meet every week?
• Do we achieve any real objectives at these meetings or are the attendees just earning "brownie points"?
• If each attendee circulated a brief weekly report, would that be enough?
• If we cancelled the meeting, would anybody be worse off?
• Is there a better way to communicate?

If you are not sure about the answers, try cancelling your next regular meeting and see what happens. My guess is, very little.

Now you can move on to the next stage. If you have to have a meeting, the next question is critical. What objectives are you hoping to fulfil in this meeting and how are you going to measure that these objectives have been fulfilled?

Decide upon objectives

Before calling a meeting, decide upon your objectives. It is not enough to call a meeting because "we haven't had a meeting for a long time". There must be a firm objective or, in the case of some meetings, a few firm objectives. How else can you measure the value of the meeting, other than achieving the objectives?

Additionally, are the correct role players invited and are they in position to make decisions related to these objectives ?

When completing the objectives prior to a meeting, make sure you do so in detail.

Consider the following list of objectives as an example:

• Discuss new computer system
• Review the budget
• Get update on Quality Program

While these items may be the ones you want to discuss, they are not detailed, and therefore, not measurable.

The following would be a better option:

• Consider the various options for the new computer system and decide which one is the most appropriate. (Detailed options attached)
• Review individual sales budgets for the coming year and agree totals. (Details attached.)
• Discuss the results of last month's quality drive and agree on the winner of the "Quality Manager of the Year" award.

Having detailed your objectives, consider again if a meeting is the best course. You may consider the above objectives could be more efficiently achieved in one-on-one meetings with the appropriate people, followed by a short memo to keep everyone else informed. If you decide to hold the meeting as part of your team building campaign, or to contribute to participative management, make sure these items become part of your list of objectives in a way that is measurable.

Some managers call meetings because it is the easiest way (or the only way) to get face-to-face with their team. This approach may well be easy but it is a waste of your most important resource - your time.