It’s My Phobia. And no, I won’t meet with you about it.
Meetings. That’s it. Just sitting in meetings. Ones with no agenda. And more than 10 people. With no free food. And really bad Powerpoint.
Extrovert
The strange part is that I am an extrovert - meaning I get my energy from being with other people. I should love, love, LOVE every opportunity to get out of my office and commingle with others. But I don’t. I avoid meetings with the power of Samson. I am not anti-social, just anti-rework, anti-unfocused, anti-boring.
Try This
Next time you receive a meeting request with no agenda, respond ‘decline’ or ‘tentative’ and ask for an agenda. I tried this late last year for three months.
You will have to start posting agendas for your meetings too. Fair is fair. I’ve found that I get better attendance and the right people in the room. A sample comment: “I see you’re meeting specifically on the performance management system. I won’t be there, but I’ll make sure Sally attends. She is our team expert.” I love it. The other person would have shown since she is the ‘lead’. She’d take notes and give them to Sally…who would have to follow up with me and others, possibly in another meeting. You get the idea.
What Will Happen
Most likely you’ll be invited to fewer meetings. I attended 35% fewer meetings compared to the previous three 3-month periods. The ones I did attend were focused, fast, and resulted in actions.
Check your calendar for the past three months. If you could remove even one 30-minute meeting a week and replace it with a client phone call, some personal reflection time, networking…the possibilities are endless.
Caveat: Make sure you’re not declining political meetings (read: the VP or senior leadership ones)!
Joe Raasch :: Apr.04.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Performance Management :: No Comments »