Is there something to be gained from holding a meeting, or is it just the “right thing to do” to accept a decision that has already been made or an opportunity to vent on an unpopular idea? If this is the case, is the cost of the meeting worth the labor and moral expense for the project or business? Before scheduling the next meeting, ask “Is this meeting really necessary?” Use the five pointers below to help answer the question and determine when not to attend a meeting.
- The meeting owner cannot express a valid purpose for the meeting objectives, goals, and desired accomplishments in one or two written sentences. Why is this particular meeting needed at this specific time? If the purpose of the meeting cannot be defined, then the meeting is irrelevant and would be a waste of everyone’s time. Do not go further in the planning process until a true business-related purpose is defined.
- The meeting leader does not have an established agenda that indicates the topics and group actions that will be taken in each one. If the person hosting the meeting cannot focus well enough to plan the action steps that the meeting should progress through, how can they expect the invited people to focus on achieving the desired results? Agendas are necessary to focus the meeting, guide the process, as well as to start and end the meeting on time.
- The active participation of all potential attendees is not required to fulfill the main purpose and themes of the meeting. Why call a meeting if there is no group work to do? If there is something that needs to be shared with one or two people, who often come to your meetings, consider having a short informal meeting in your office, the break room, a quick chat in the hall, or using the phone. This saves time for others who would have to sit down in a meeting on topics that may not be related to your work efforts. If information that does not require discussion is to be shared, determine if it could be provided in writing. If you can, send the information in an email or as an attachment instead of putting everyone in a meeting room or on a conference call.
- The attendees who can attend the meeting may not be the ones needed there on the chosen date and time. For example, important decision makers or those who best understand the problem or the work to be discussed cannot attend. If a decision has already been made, is a meeting necessary to tell everyone or try to get “buy-in”? This can lead to low confidence in the meeting leader. Is it relevant to discuss a perceived problem or workflow problems, if the people closest to the problem or topic are not available? Leaving out those most involved will not produce effective results and can lead to resentment.
- The meeting organizer cannot find a good place to hold the meeting. This may seem obvious, but some people actually do all the planning above, but forget to reserve a meeting place! Is there a room available that has comfortable seating for all attendees? Will this room meet the technical requirements that may be necessary for the meeting? Is the meeting place suitable for most of the attendees? Most people don’t look forward to meetings, especially if they feel uncomfortable, waste time on team problems, or have to spend more time just to travel to the meeting. If the meeting place was not arranged in advance, too much valuable time will be wasted trying to find a place to meet when everyone arrives at the place, so simply reschedule for another date.
Keep in mind that just because a regularly scheduled meeting time and place is established does not mean that everyone has to meet. If any of the five above indicators appear when planning a meeting, simply cancel the meeting for this week or for now if this will not affect project or team productivity. By canceling unnecessary meetings, everyone who would be involved may see a greater need for the following week’s meeting. By the way, all potential meeting attendees will have more time to do other work in the current week. People often appreciate that they don’t have to attend an unnecessary formal meeting. By canceling unnecessary meetings, scheduled attendees can use time more intelligently on their own. Remember to plan the meeting correctly and always ask “Is this meeting really necessary?”
