Is it a meeting? Or a scheduled collaboration?
Have you ever caught up with a friend the day after they had a great dining experience? They’re raving about the food, the ambiance, the conversation, even the funny anecdote about how their dining partner tried to share a bite of their amazing desert and dropped it in the water glass instead.
Now imagine someone sharing that same level of enthusiasm and detail about their previous day’s experience…but it wasn’t about an amazing meal, it was about a meaningful meeting they had.
Wait, what? A meeting? Seriously?
Too often, it’s the opposite.
In my career as a product manager and product leader, I’ve been in literally thousands of daily stand ups. Common in the software world, this is where a team gets together, usually daily, to connect and align on the work of the team. While each team has its own spin, they usually have a common format of each person sharing things from the previous day, things they’re working on or are up next, and blockers.
By far, the most common challenge reported by my teammates has always been around “meetings”. You’ve seen this too - folks saying “I couldn’t get anything done yesterday because I was in meetings all day” or “I won’t get to that today because I’m in meetings”.
There would be a common eye roll (how can we get anything done when people keep booking meetings!), the periodic meeting purge or experiment with no meeting days, but then the same status quo would return, with everyone complaining about meetings.
So what can we do?
Many of my clients and colleagues over the years have heard me say “If you can’t call a meeting a scheduled collaboration, you probably shouldn’t be having the meeting.”
But what does that actually mean?
Meetings are inevitable - If we live or work in community, we put time on our collective calendars in advance for specific purposes. We don’t always call them meetings (when we schedule that hike with a friend on Saturday, we don’t usually call it a meeting), but it’s all still time on calendars planned in advance.
However, in the corporate world, too often “meetings” aren’t well thought out, intentional plans, but often a thing we schedule because we think scheduling a meeting is a solution to our problem.
Don’t know what project we should tackle next?
Let’s schedule a meeting.
Know there’s a thing we need to work out in order to do the other thing we need to do?
Let’s schedule a meeting.
Need to make a decision but that person who’s key to the project isn’t in today?
Let’s schedule a meeting.
So what do we need to do instead?
By thinking of a meeting as a scheduled collaboration, we often put more intention and preparation into having a great experience that drives the results we need. Here are three common types of meetings, and how you can think about them as scheduled collaborations:
One-on-ones and team meetings
Often tricky because these are recurring meetings, one-on-one or team meetings often have a reputation for being less than productive. Everyone sits down together, someone (often the “leader”) talks at the others, some people take a few notes, and folks leave to do the “real work”.
If this sounds like your meetings, try these tips:Clearly align as a group (or pair) on the goals of the meeting.
Decide on a format, or agenda, that supports those goals. This may include time to share quick updates (rely on async, referenceable channels, like email, for more details), celebrate wins, and time to specifically collaborate as a group on key areas.
Regularly assess, as a group (or pair), the effectiveness of the meetings, and intentionally iterate to improve the outcomes you’re looking to drive.
Working sessions
Ever had a meeting on the books when someone, often the “boss”, arrives and says “do I need to be here”? That meeting was probably meant to be a working session, but disguised as a “meeting”.
A few things you can try:Set goals and an agenda when the meeting is booked.
Have a clear facilitator to keep the group on track and working towards the agreed upon agenda.
Keep a parking lot - track and set aside topics that come up that aren’t directly related to the goals of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, revisit the parking lot and assign actions as needed.
Self collaborations
The trickiest of them all, these are the things you put on your calendar (or should put on the calendar) to take care of the things YOU need to take care of. Think of this as time where your current self is collaborating with your future self. You know you need the time to do the thing, so block it out in your calendar just like you would if you needed time from someone else.
A few things to try:Block time, just like you would for a working session. Have a clear goal and agenda from the beginning, and ensure you have whatever resources or equipment needed to achieve your goals.
Keep the time sacred. Just like you would hesitate to reschedule a meeting with someone else, you should also hesitate to reschedule time with yourself.
Don’t let others schedule over it. If you need to, get creative in your meeting titles to reinforce this to yourself and others. “Weekly Planning” could become “Internal Board Meeting”. “Email catch up” might be “Correspondence Team Meeting”. Or use a title like “Do Not Book: Deep Work Time” to hold the space on your calendar.
Next time you’re facing that dreaded block of meetings on your calendar, ask yourself:
Can this be a scheduled collaboration?
If not, what’s another way we can move this forward?
As you think about how to make your calendar support your goals, you probably realize there’s opportunity to explore this further. Want some help? Book your free strategy session and let’s dig in.
How will you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
August 22, 2024
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
Book your free strategy session.