Bored Meeting
“What about a gate-fold?”
How many execs do you need to screw in a light bulb? It’s a trick question. You only need one person to screw in the bulb, and a dozen suits and ties to argue over the bulb colour, style, angle, warmth and whether light bulbs are out of style.
"Here we go again." I'd say to myself, walking into another marketing meeting filled to the last chair. I’m sure it started innocently enough. The boss is needed for some important decision, and he decides to stick around. Then that one guy from sales had an idea people liked, so he shows up every week. Of course you need someone from finance, right? At some point people feel left out, and now your weekly marketing meeting has 15 people attending.
We used to joke when someone made a good comment, “See, that’s why you’re here!”
Everyone's Opinion Counts - Right?
“Sean, what’s the big deal? More people means more points of view!”
Sure, but not every opinion is equal. As soon as a VP comments on a design, you listen, no matter how uninformed they may be. Try telling someone in another altitude of pay that their idea is terrible.
“Hey Mrs. Senior VP, I appreciate you like starbursts around pricing.” Says the Marketing Manager with great professional restraint. “But that’s not aligned with our current branding.”
“Can you mock it up quickly for us to see next week? I’m just curious.” She requests.
The response is pushed through tightly clenched teeth. “Of course we can.”
There goes another week without a decision.
There goes another project pushed back to accommodate a request.
There goes another designer's joy of work.
There's More Chairs in the Back
“Ok, I get it, but what about keeping everyone on the same page? Having everyone in the meeting means everyone is informed.”
You should want to avoid waste. Every person in that meeting is a person not working. Do you really need all of your top salary employees reviewing the new business cards? Take a few notes and bring back the decisions to the greater team.
I imagine there are thousands of people sitting in meeting rooms right now either questioning why they’re there, or why so many others are. In terms of improving efficiency and productivity, effective meetings are low hanging fruit. From my experience, if you're running out of chairs in the boardroom, you're crossing into bad territory.
What are your thoughts?
Where do you stand on meeting attendance? Get everyone who can contribute in on the conversation, or cut it down to the bones of what is absolutely required?