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An old photo by me

I spend a fair amount of time in meetings. If I have more than two I consider the day a wash. Not that meetings are unimportant, some are vital turning points in a project, some actual create consensus and new ideas etc. However, more than anything, the lack of any meetings often ensures that a project will fail. However, I feel like little thought is given to getting value for time and things often amount to just a discussion of obvious facts and promises of future action. A few rules of thumb I apply are that if there are more than 5 people or no actual decision makers then the meeting is useless. These facts are obvious to anyone who’s ever worked a job, but the New York Times has an interesting article on actually codifying the lesson.

Money quote:

Whoever calls a meeting should be explicit about its objectives. This means specifying tangible goals and assigning responsibility for creating, summarizing and reporting on them. Ask yourself this question: Specifically, what do we want accomplished when we walk out of the room?

Everyone should think carefully about the opportunity costs of a meeting: How many participants are really needed? (Almost all business teams and committees are too big.) How long should the meeting last? Set a definite ending time. Anyone who doubts that the meeting is necessary, or thinks it’s too long, should speak up.

After productive or unproductive meetings, assign credit or blame to the person in charge. Then, if people have track records of leading ineffective meetings, don’t let them lead future sessions. When their expertise is essential, make them subordinate to an effective meeting leader.