I can tell you that I definitely suffered from meeting overload when I was in corporate. I have shared with you that there were often three meetings happening at the same that I was expected to attend. I had to determine which meeting I would attend and send some of my team to the other meetings or get the notes later. Not an ideal scenario for anyone to deal with as a leader.
Meetings seem to be a way of life that is accepted.
Many of my clients suffer from the same issues that I did. They aren’t focused on what they should be doing, but on attending the next meeting instead. No one questions that there are so many meetings and it is the approach that has become the norm to make decisions and inform others. It seems like the right thing to do.
No leader wants to have multiple conversations so a group meeting is the logical option. What is the issue with this approach? It causes leaders to never have time to get any work done other than at night so they never get away from work. Does this sound like you?
What if there was another option?
One of my clients shared a great 10 minute podcast with me called The Founders Journal by Alex Lieberman, co-founder of the Morning Brew Newsletter on his top 6 steps to reduce meetings. It is thought provoking and may not work for every company, but imagine if you could reduce even 25% of the meetings that you have in your own group. It could give you a chance to evaluate the meetings that you normally attend and see if they could benefit from these suggestions.
Meeting Revolution Time!
What if you could apply just one of these suggestions and improve your work day and your life? Leaders need to find ways to innovate to improve things and this is a visible way to do it. Imagine having time back for you to be able to think and be strategic for a change! I bet there are many other team members who would appreciate it too!
Let me know if you apply any of these suggestions with success or have other ideas that have worked for you!