Why Are We Here?


How often do you multi-task?
All the time, it's the only way I get things done. Sometimes, I try not to but sometimes I can't help it. Never, I just can't do more than one thing at a time.

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Why Are We Here?
By: Tama Swan, Associate Editor
Issue: 2009mar

Don’t just wait for magic to happen in meetings—be proactive.

Everyone has sat, glassy-eyed, through a meeting that was either fatally derailed from its original purpose or totally lacking one from the start. The problem with time-sucking meetings is often that the leaders didn’t set clear objectives or an agenda and didn’t assign pre-meeting tasks. Instead, they hoped solutions would magically appear as problems were discussed.

The blame doesn’t just fall on those who call a meeting to order. Participants who leave a bad meeting feeling unhappy but don’t assign responsibility for it or step up and fix it doom the cycle to repeat itself. This doesn’t mean businesses should avoid all meetings, but the frequency and organization of “team powwows” should be closely monitored and assigned only to those who can handle the task.

Try these suggestions for taking an active role and making meetings more effective.

• Be explicit about a meeting’s objectives. Specify tangible goals and recruit someone to summarize and report on them. Ask yourself: What accomplishments should we leave the room with?

• Consider the opportunity costs of each meeting. How many participants are really needed? How much time should it take? Set a definite end time and encourage anyone who questions the necessity or length of the meeting to speak up.

• Following productive or unproductive meetings assign credit or blame accordingly. If someone has a history of leading ineffective meetings, don’t let him or her do it anymore.

DID YOU KNOW?
As a general rule, meetings make individuals perform below their capacity and skill levels.

Source: www.nytimes.com

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