"How do I make sure my meetings aren't boring and useless?"
Goood morning happy Tuesday,
I had the most wholesome weekend climbing Crib Goch (the scary way up Snowdon!) piccies below.
It was tough, the rescue helicopter was circling, and we passed many people crying unable to continue (don’t blame them), but we made it with nothing but a few bumps and bruises.
Anyway enough about me
Let’s get into a really, really important (but sometimes boring) topic… Meetings.
I have actually already covered this topic with you guys back in Feb, but I have much more to add and want to make sure we get a chance to talk about it properly.
Honestly, even saying the word ‘meeting’ bores me, it has such negative connotations (and for good reason).
Covid catapulted us into a whole new era with remote work, but it brought with it the baggage of intrusive meeting culture and bosses ‘checking in’ because they can’t physically see their team.
And although the word ‘meeting’ makes me feel icky - meetings do genuinely hold the power to unite a team. I’ve seen it firsthand in my team.
Done right, meetings can:
Bond people together in a safe space
Get decisions made quickly
Get diverse opinions heard
Create excitement and buy-in for your team/company vision
I’ve made a pre and post-meeting checklist for you to run through each time you host a meeting to make sure they’re really efficient, so download that on the spreadsheet at the end, and there’s a screenshot of what a great meeting invite looks like in here too 👇
So let’s dive into 5 things I’ve done to ensure their meetings create fulfillment (not dread).
5 things great leaders do to run effective meetings
Let’s go…
1. Purpose lead and action-driven
You may have heard ‘every meeting needs a purpose’, but successful leaders go beyond outlining a statement or writing a ‘purpose’ - they get to a meeting knowing EXACTLY what the team needs to get out of it.
They will know (and have written in the meeting invite):
The purpose of the meeting (this needs to be connected to a wider purpose as per example)
The pre-meeting actions (and hold people accountable to delivering them)
The outcome of the session, what everyone will leave with
A clear agenda (And they will move people along in-meeting)
Here’s an example of what a great meeting description should look like, really clear
2. Ruthless with invitees
Too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many people = inaction.
Don’t just invite someone because it might be interesting to them, or because they’re somewhat connected to the project.
The greatest leaders are RUTHLESS in only inviting people in who will be truly important for the session.
And here’s the most important bit… They aren’t the most senior people.
One of the greatest leaders I had the pleasure of working with, would often leave some of the more senior people out of the session, and invite more of the juniors who were the experts in their craft to come in and contribute their opinions.
That way, a great decision can get made, and the seniors can just be notified afterwards.
3. They fight to have diversity of thought
The best leaders know that without proper management, an entire meeting will end up being dominated by the loudest people in the room.
This isn’t just annoying, it’s counterintuitive. You will miss out on some of the most important, creative expertise from others who might be a little shyer in a meeting setting.
There are 2 things you can do here:
Create space for quieter people: “Amy, I know you’re great with data analysis, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this”
Invite opinions before or after the session:
(Side note: Make sure you have a private conversation with the loud people to make them aware that their actions could be causing others to struggle.)
4. They shut up and listen
I have sat in hours and hours of meetings with FTSE100 CEOs, multi-mil£ business owners and the leaders of fast-growing teams, and they all had 1 thing in common…
They didn’t say all that much in meetings.
If they have scheduled the meeting, they’ll start with a powerful intro, then just shut up and get out of the way.
The greatest leaders know they are there to facilitate and create space, not to dominate.
The only other time they’ll speak up and get involved is if:
The meeting is going off-topic or off-time and you need to steer it back
Asking questions (see point 4)
Next time you’re hosting a meeting, deliver an intro at the beginning… Then get out of the way
5. They don’t make statements, they ask questions
In meetings, the greatest leaders are actively listening all the time
They’re most likely writing notes, and they’re definitely asking questions.
When people say something brilliant or come up with a fab idea, ask them for more insight.
When people are missing the mark, challenge them with questions like: “I’m a little unsure, how do you think this is going to get us toward our goal?”
The checklist
Here is your pre and post-meeting checklist, make a duplicate of the sheet and run through it the next couple of times you run a meeting to get practice in all the principles above
Peace,
H