Why I Love Meetings
It’s extremely uncool to admit this in a world of four-hour workweeks and death by meeting thinkpieces - I freaking LOVE meetings.
Don’t get me wrong - a gathering of 15 people where there’s no clear leader, no agenda, and no end point - I’d rather take my toddlers to CostCo on a Saturday. (Ok that might be an exaggeration…)
But a meeting where we make organizational progress? A meeting where everyone feels they’re now in the loop, where different departments can coordinate and people leave feeling empowered with fresh to-do lists? ALL. DAY.
The organizational anti-meeting swing has been largely a positive thing. Meetings for the sake of having a meeting are indeed a waste of time. But if you have a team of people who are doing different but coordinated work and can’t sit down for a few minutes so that everyone syncs to the strategy and vision - I’d say you don’t have much strategy or vision to sync to.
For those of you who loathe meetings, I submit first a few reasons you need to be having them, and then a few ways you can improve the meeting experience for everyone.
Why you should be having meetings:
Vision Casting - The most important reason to keep having good meetings is that it’s a leader’s most effective way of keeping the team aligned to the vision. Everything in an organization ticks to the beat of vision, and if your team goes weeks (or months) without you keeping the vision in front of them, it will get lost or die.
Communications - Someone on your team is probably (hopefully) responsible for communicating what you’re doing to a larger group of people, whether that’s a congregation, shareholders, potential clients, or the world at large through social media. Their job in meetings is to constantly reduce the larger conversation to how it will pertain to output - and to see the future of communication. When your comms person is in the loop from the beginning, they can make sure the pipeline is ready to go when new things launch.
Culture Alignment - Whatever the culture of your workplace - fun and casual or buttoned up and slick - the meeting is an opportunity to keep culture in front of people. The way you dress, the style of the agenda, and your language and presence all send the message to your team - this is who we are.
A few tips on having good meetings:
Take the Reins - In one role I had, I showed up to my first staff meeting and opened my laptop, ready to roll. The leader looked at me across the table and said, “Kelly, our meetings are screen-free. I should have told you that before now. We want everyone engaged with what’s happening, so the only person with a laptop will be the admin taking minutes.” Our meetings in that organization were incredibly efficient and productive. Somewhat due to no screens, but more largely because the leader led.
When a leader is too weak to keep the group on track, stop people who want to take over, or think ahead about setting an agenda, it creates distrust and people will come to dread your meetings.
Build a Routine - Craig Groeschel, Pastor and host of the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast, did an episode where he shared a great routine they use for meetings in their organization. For his meetings - and for yours - great meetings are intentional and predictable. Your team should anticipate what will happen in the meeting and should know when it is close to wrapping up.
Lead by Example - I still believe an efficient meeting is the best way to sync your team. If you want your team to be positive about your time together, you, as the leader, should show up positive and glad for the chance to connect. Be on time. Keep consistent meeting schedules and don’t cancel.
Delegate - Maybe you do hate meetings and you recognize that running a succinct and positive meeting is not one of your strengths. Delegate running the meeting to another senior leader on your team that can do it well. You can still have them slot in a consistent agenda point for you to do some vision casting or updates, but you can delegate the running of the meeting itself. Just make sure everyone knows who’s in charge.
What about you? Do you love meetings or hate them? Why?
