meetings: from wasteful to successful

Meetings: From Wasteful to Successful

Cheryl Lee • June 2015

© 2015 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 2023-04-15

About the Author – Cheryl Lee

PMP, PMI-PBA and CBAP CertifiedHighly experienced business analysis

and project management practitioner and trainer

Served on IIBA Toronto Chapter board of directors

Co-founder and co-chair of PMI-SOC Business Analysis Community

Co-author of the soon to be published book “Effective PM and BA Role Collaboration” (2015), J. Ross


Agenda

Impact of ineffective meetingsTips to run effective and

engaging meetingsAdvice for meeting goers to

get the most out of a meetingQ & A

Impact of Ineffective Meetings

On average, what percentage of the day do you spend in meetings?

a) 1%-30%

b) 31%-50%

c) >50%

Discussion


Ineffective Meetings Waste Time and Money

More than $37 billion per year is spent on unproductive meetings

More than 25 million meetings per day in the U.S.

Middle managers spend

35% of their time in meetings

Upper management

spends 50% of their time in meetings

More than 67% of meetings are considered a waste of time


Time Spent in Meetings Increasing Year over Year

What are some of the culprits of unproductive meetings?

Discussion


Causes of Unproductive Meetings - #1

92% admitted to multitasking during a meeting

41% admitted to multitasking “often” or “all the time”

69% admitted to checking email

49% admitted to doing other, unrelated work


Causes of Unproductive Meetings - #2 and #3

#2 Remote participants are not engaged

#3 Lack of planning and structure

Tips to run Effective and Engaging Meetings


Avoid Serial Meetings

Meetings give the Perception of Progression

Ask yourself the following before scheduling the next meeting:

Is a meeting really necessary?

Explore other options requiring less time from participants – independent research, targeted interviews


Avoid Meetings for the Sake of Meeting – Status Meetings

Average time spent per week preparing for a status meeting

4 hours

1. Use the time for forward thinking instead of focusing on the past• Do not waste time summarizing the status report, use the time to discuss any challenges or

potential risks and elicit ideas to solve for them2. Conduct your status meeting more like a scrum meeting regardless of methodology used

• Keep the meeting short/stand-up meetings• Have each team member answer the 3 key questions:

1. What did you do yesterday (or last week)?2. What will you do today (or this week)?3. Are there any impediments in your way?


Take the time to Plan

Tips for preparation:1. Block time off in your calendar for the prep work2. Prepare any supporting documents ahead of time – never show up with a blank piece of paper

• Document analysis – reviewing any existing documentation• Pre-alignment interviews• Observation sessions

3. Include a detailed agenda in the invitation4. Think about how to make the meeting more engaging and interactive

If you do not have time for proper preparation, then you are not ready for a meeting – do not waste everyone’s time!

When setting up a meeting, take into consideration the time it takes to prepare for the meeting.It will likely take more time than the meeting itself.


Ideas to Make the Meeting more Engaging

1. Schedule shorter/stand up meetings

2. Ensure you have the right people invited

• Be clear about who is required vs optional

3. Start and stop on time

4. Stick to the agenda

• Have meeting goals readily available to point to in case the meeting goes off

track

5. Take notes visually - everyone can follow along and see action items



6. Prepare visual models

to disseminate

information

• This will help ensure

everyone is on the

same page



7. Use collaborative games to elicit information

• Get participants to move around the room

• Instead of facilitator documenting everything

participants take ownership

• http://gamestorming.com/

Customer Centric

Affinity Diagram

Why Who How

Carousel

Do you have any experience with collaborative games?

Discussion


After the Meeting

What Who How

Take the Time to Synthesize Information Before Scheduling

a Follow Up

Advice for Meeting Goers to get theMost out of a Meeting


The Average Meeting Goer...

Daydreams during the meeting

91%

Falls asleep during the meeting

39%Skips the meeting

altogether

96%

Multitasks during the meeting

92%


The “DO” List

1. DO determine if you are truly required for the meeting

2. DO ask for an agenda if one was not provided

• Ask questions if you are still not sure what the meeting is about to determine

if you are required

3. DO allocate time to complete any necessary pre-work

• Block off time in your calendar to do this or risk having to

schedule a follow up meeting


The “Do NOT” List:

1. Do NOT attend the meeting just in case there is a question for you

2. Do NOT multitask

• If you have time to multitask during the meeting, you probably shouldn’t have

been there in the first place

3. Do NOT hijack the meeting to discuss unrelated topics

• If you have an agenda item, speak to the meeting organizer

ahead of time to see if it is appropriate to be added


Q & A


Twitter

Continue the conversation:

@GKCanada

@BAPMCherylLee


Sources

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-meetings-hint-its-scary

https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographichttp://gamestorming.com/



https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic

http://gamestorming.com/

Thank You

If you enjoyed this presentation, you might be interested in the following courses:

Making the Most of Your Project MeetingsExcelling at Facilitation

Effective Facilitation for Business Analysts

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