TimeBridge

Stand Up for More Efficient Meetings! Join the 45-Minute Meeting Movement!

What if you could shave 15 minutes off of every hour-long meeting in your day, what would you do with all the extra time? What if there was a list of rules to which all attendees adhered and meetings actually ended on time?! We’re betting you’d finish a lot more work, get a lot more decisions made and perhaps get out of work on time.

Today we’re announcing a movement to help you and your teams champion shorter, more efficient meetings. We wanted to get behind the spirit of this movement and make it so inherent in our service that we’ve made our TimeBridge default meeting times to 45 minutes.

Meeting and productivity expert, Mike Song, says that 43% of meeting time is wasted. How would you like to get that back? Join this movement! Make your next meeting 45-minutes instead of an hour. Go to 45MinuteMeeting.com to see our initial list of 45 Minute Meeting rules. If you have other tips on how to make meetings more efficient we’d love to hear about them on Twitter or on this post! The best tips will receive a free copy of “The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done” by Mike Song.

You Can’t Keep a Bad Meeting Private Anymore

While not every sector or certainly every business is yet experiencing an upswing, it is clear that everyone is redoubling their efforts from 2009 and looking toward increased productivity in 2010. As the engines of business rev, so are our calendars filling with new daily, weekly and one-off meetings. While we are big proponents of productive meetings, we also caution meeting leaders to be judicious and think ahead about their meetings, their goals, and how a meeting will lead to an improved outlook for all in attendance.

This week TechCrunch ran a story about an online offering that lambastes companies and meeting organizers who waste attendees’ precious time. Things have changed and sales leads, business partners and yes, even employees, now regularly feel emboldened to share their impressions on…just about everything…publicly! Whether its a blog post, a tweet, or a scathing online review companies can no longer afford to assume polite discretion.

In the arena of scheduling and running great meetings, which we know a lot about, there are three top-line things every meeting leader must know to address this critical shift and keep driving productivity and results:

• Know why you’re having a meeting–  Make sure you make it clear to your attendees; set an agenda and allow attendees to add their two cents (through TimeBridge)
• Know why everyone needs to be there–  If an invitee isn’t impacted by the meeting then they probably don’t need to be there– they can read your meeting notes (from TimeBridge)
• Know what the desired result is–  Summarize the action items at the end of the meeting and email them (through TimeBridge too, of course)

It’s that simple. Our entire purpose at TimeBridge is to help make meetings meaningful and easy-to-schedule forums that inform attendees and drive people toward goals. If you don’t approach meetings with the right personal and technological tools get ready because your next review may be a public one.

Best Practices: Keeping your meeting on topic

In Susan Adams’ recent article in Forbes, she examines the process around meetings and gets advice from Dr. Nadine Katz, dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who manages days of endless meetings. Interestingly, the article mentions a few staple caricatures in meeting codes of conduct: the latecomer, the hijacker and the long-winded colleague. There are others, to be sure, but in highlighting on these roles – that we all know more intimately than we wish – she illustrates that no matter what conferencing or presentation technology you use or what guidelines you set, it’s the meeting attendees that ensure the success of a meeting. And it’s the meeting leader’s job to rein in all of these personalities.

So how do you keep your meeting under control while boosting morale and motivation? Dr. Katz says the key is addressing these issues even before the meeting starts – “Prepare, prepare and prepare some more”:

• Streamlined and detailed agendas: Dr. Katz recommends touching base with attendees to draw attention to priority items. This will help them be prepared to address the meeting topics.
• Physical logistics: When possible, make sure the meeting space is free of distracting lighting, whiteboard images and noises.
• Amenities: Make sure that the attendees are comfortable and will not want for food or drinks and there’s less of a chance of breaks being taken.

What are some other ways to head meeting catastrophes off at the pass?

• Avoid latecomers: Find an agreeable time to make sure the meeting happens at a time when all can attend and send out reminders to cover the forgetful few. Also providing quick ways to communicate with the organizer helps to let everyone know if you are running late so folks aren’t left waiting.
• Guide the discussion: Setting and sticking to a clear and timed agenda will help keep your meeting on track and ensure that discussion items are covered. When a meeting is hijacked, Dr. Katz suggests that the meeting leader thank the person responsible for bringing up the point and then suggest that they table it until all items have been discussed. It’s even easier to pull this off if you have a clear agenda that has been socialized and edited to make sure everyone’s items are addressed.

Ultimately, no matter what the content or headcount, the meeting leader “must never lose control of [the] meeting,” according to Dr. Katz. We agree, and while juggling personalities takes some skill, the extra effort and commitment to wrestling the conversation back to its focus is worth the reward – an efficient and thorough meeting where work gets done.