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How to Increase Collaboration without Wasting People’s Time: A Deep Dive Into Meaningless Meetings

Writer's picture: Laura Hope GoldstoneLaura Hope Goldstone

Could that meeting have been an email?

Probably.


Like anything else, "it depends" is also a valid answer. But the data is leaning heavily towards meeting fatigue being an issue that needs to be resolved by managers scheduling fewer meetings.


The data speaks volumes


If you feel you've got too many meetings on your calendar that don't hold value, your feelings are supported by data. Harvard Business Review reported that newly promoted managers hold about a third more meetings than their more experienced colleagues. And the perceived value of those meetings is very, very low.


The reasoning behind this high volume of meetings being scheduled by greener managers could be that especially in today's virtual-first environment, new managers feel pressured to build connections but think increased visibility (in the form of meetings) and team buy-in (in the form of widespread consensus) are the only way to do it (and that's not necessarily true). They also may be looking for ways to feel a sense of control over their team's projects and think the only way to do so is to have more meetings.


But research shows that 70% of all meetings "keep employees from working and completing their tasks." And 92% of employees think all of these extra meetings are "costly and unproductive." (Source)


In other words, meetings, in general, do not hold much perceived value.


And if you're afraid that removing those meetings will backfire, the data may help you make the leap: An HBR study showed that when meetings were reduced by 40%, employee productivity increased by 71%. Employees felt more empowered to do their best work, hold themselves accountable, and be creative. Their job satisfaction also increased by 52%, and they felt less of the negative impact on their psychological, physical, and mental well-being that ineffective meetings can cause.


When additional meetings were removed from weekly schedules, the data continued trending in that inverse relationship, with fewer meetings yielding more satisfaction: Cutting 60% of meetings "increased cooperation by 55%," enabling employees to find process, tools, and paces that worked better for them. Stress decreased by 57% and overall wellbeing was boosted. And when 80% of meetings were cut, employees reported the feeling of being micromanaged lessened by 74%. Employees felt more valued, trusted, and more engaged by 44%, and, in turn, they worked harder and found new, more fulfilling ways to be productive. (Source)


Obviously, the content of the meeting and the way the meeting is run can impact the effectiveness of any given meeting. And some meetings are 100% necessary in order to garner buy-in, discuss strategy, communicate updates, or move projects forward. But in general, blindly adding a slew of meetings to people's calendars is not a fix-all, especially not for issues with collaboration or alignment. And in general, too many meetings can hurt productivity and wellbeing.


Takeaway: Managers need to be extremely thoughtful and strategic in the way they construct their meeting schedule each week.


And don't be afraid to cut a majority of those meetings, as much as it may hurt at first. It will benefit you--and everyone--in the long run.


First, identify the problem...


Why are managers holding so many meetings?


For just a moment, let's empathize with the managers holding these meetings to understand their perspective.


We already discussed some possibilities as to why they might be resorting to scheduling meetings:

  • Managers want to build connections with and among their team members

  • Managers want to feel more control over the work the team is doing


The first point is valid: It is up to managers to build connections with their team members on a one-on-one basis as well as among their team as a group. But simply scheduling more meetings without rhyme or reason is not necessarily the best way to achieve that goal. Connection can be built in many ways, and if the data is showing you that meetings are not the best solution, then we'll explore other options below. (Note: You may need to gather your own data based on your team.)


The second point -- managers wanting to feel more control -- is harder to tackle. First, define "control." If you want to know what your team members are doing all day, you're fighting a losing battle. You're going to have to learn to let go and trust your team. But if you want to have a better handle on the work getting done and how you can help, then that shows a willingness to support your team and increase effectiveness and efficiency. In this case, your heart is in the right place, but your solution was faulty. We'll discuss better solutions in the next section.


Some additional reasons managers may hold so many meetings include:

  • Strategic alignment is an important driver of effectiveness

  • Streamlining communication improves productivity and connection


These two points are valid and they are signs that a manager has the right goals in mind. But again, scheduling more meetings is like prescribing the wrong medicine for a diagnosis. Peel back the layers - don't just jump to the first solution you can think of - and agree on the problem.


If your team has a problem with communication, strategic alignment, productivity, or collaboration, then you have to first understand the problem before you decide that scheduling more meetings is the only or best solution. First, make sure everyone -- or at least your manager group -- agrees that whatever one area you have decided to tackle first is a problem. They may not know you feel that way, or your diagnosis may be wrong. They may actually have evidence on the contrary, or they may be able to reframe the situation from a new perspective. Be open to the possibility that what you thought was a problem actually isn't one. Also be open to the possibility that a different problem is at the root of it all, in which case you need to deal with the root cause, not a symptom.


Takeaway: Identify the problem, agree on the problem, then explore solutions that may solve that root problem (not symptoms) in a way that benefits everyone.


...then try different solutions


As we've clearly indicated, jumping right to "SCHEDULE MORE MEETINGS!" is not the best approach. In fact, meetings can cause more issues rather than solving the original one. More meetings can cause resentment among people who are underrepresented or who have not been consulted about the issue in the first place. These meetings can also be confusing or overwhelming for different personality types. And the way these meetings operate is absolutely vital to their success as well, since too many cooks can spoil the soup. You may think you are giving everyone a voice, but you might actually be taking some people's voices away and only giving service to the squeaky wheel. Meetings should be treated strategically, thoughtfully, and delicately. They should not be thought of as a quick Band-aid to slap on top of a deep wound.


Depending on the problem you identified and agreed upon in the previous section, you may find a new wealth of opportunities to try as new solutions. As collaboration is often the main goal of managers scheduling more meetings -- collaborating on projects, communicating better through collaborations, collaborating more about what work is getting done, etc. -- let's look at other ways to increase collaboration without wasting people's time with low-value (and potentially harmful) meetings.


  • Create a project plan or use a digital system to serve as a form of communication about the status of projects. Ensure the appropriate visibility across relevant stakeholders, and train everyone on expectations and usage/application. Let people be in control of updating their own projects with how they feel they're going or where they stand in their work, rather than you always asking them for transactional updates.

  • Use email and/or internal collaboration tools to lay out project details and facilitate asynchronous communication. CC/tag/include the right people, ask the right questions, and establish a norm for what information should be included in emails or posts. Proper emailing practices can go a long way, so start by setting rules and expectations, then document them, then roll them out clearly in training sessions to ensure everyone is clear on what is expected of them and the opportunities they have to exhibit effective collaboration skills.

  • Empower your team members to come to you with questions or ideas rather than you always scheduling meetings with them. When meetings come from the top, they can be perceived as being more directive and can cause more stress. But when the employee schedules the meeting or sends an email to their boss, they feel more empowered, confident, and self-assured.

  • Announce a metric that you think could be met through collaboration and let your team members handle the execution. If you explain your expectations and are clear about the end goal, the way that goal is reached can be left up to your team.

  • Coach your team members on how to schedule meetings themselves with the appropriate people or how to facilitate collaboration on their own. This might be news to you, but you don't always have to be involved. If everything is top-down, employees will feel stifled and will burn out rapidly. Instead of just being a manager, also be a leader. Lead them toward growth. Find out where they want to grow, and where opportunities lie in adding business value, and help them figure out how to connect the dots from point A to point B (rather than doing that for them). One way to do this is to talk to them about how they can be better collaborators--digitally, asynchronously, through systems, through emails, interpersonally, and in their work.

  • Hold one one-off meeting where you and the people you want to collaborate with can discuss your preferences openly, without judgment. Let this be a listening meeting where you are gathering information. Share a few questions beforehand: How do you prefer to collaborate? What do you see as examples of successful collaboration? What are the pitfalls of poor collaboration that you work to avoid or want to see fixed? Then have an open conversation where you discuss how you want to work together. (If asynchronous communication or digital methods are preferable to your team, you could instead send out a survey to ask about preferences and preferred methods of communication and collaboration, or you could create a digital forum such as a Slack channel where recommendations or ideas can be posted. Knowing there is a place where people's thoughts will be heard and valued will help them realize they can have a say in the way they work and collaborate. Then, be sure to follow through.)

  • Model the behavior you want to see.

  • Celebrate the behavior you want to see.

  • Address the behavior you want to stop. (Don't sweep it under the rug. Ignoring is allowing.)

  • Try new things. Preferences change. Situations change. People change. Projects change. Be adaptable and be open to trying new methods of collaboration. This will show you care about doing it right and are flexible enough to test options until you find something that works for everyone.



There are two important lessons here: Let go, and trust.


Let go of the perception that you need to control everything. Further, let go of the perception that you need to control anything. You don't. You are a facilitator and a guide and a coach. Set the strategy and the vision, and empower your team members to figure out the ways they work best together. You will be amazed at the results.

A lot of new managers' worries will be solved over time as they build trust and foster an environment where team members feel safe, supported, and challenged. A lot of managers aren't adept at building this type of culture, so they resort to scheduling meetings. But if you take the time to sharpen your leadership skills and build a culture of empowerment and trust, you won't need to schedule so many meetings, and everyone will be better off in the end.


And if you DO have to hold meetings, here are some tips.


And if you are going to hold meetings, here are some tips to ensure they go smoothly:

  • Craft a RACI chart to help you determine who should be involved with each stage of a project. Then, only schedule meetings at vital milestones and only invite the right people to each meeting. In other words, keep the meeting small, and be extremely intentional with the invite list and frequency/cadence.

  • Ensure each meeting has a clear leader and a clear agenda. If your meeting doesn't have a goal or important agenda points, cancel it (and send an email instead). Remember, we all want to spend our time in purposeful ways. Don't let your meetings make people feel they are wasting time they'll never get back. Add value, convey the meeting's purpose, name a meeting leader or facilitator, draft and share a clear agenda, and stick to it.

  • Set expectations, train everyone on these expectations, and ensure they are documented, visible, and upheld.

  • Shorten the time frame. You'll feel more pressure (in a positive sense) to hit your goals if the end time is looming.

  • Give people enough time to prepare. Don't schedule a meeting to happen in the next 10 minutes without checking in with everyone to ensure they can make it work. Don't schedule a meeting for first thing the next morning. Don't schedule a meeting for the first hour or two of someone's first day back online after PTO. You may have been thinking about this meeting for a while, but assume this is the first time your attendees have thought about it, and make sure they have time to prepare thoughts. (This also means sharing an agenda in advance so they know how to prepare!)

  • Respect boundaries. Establish a practice of everyone updating their work calendars, then avoid booked meetings or time blocks. And try not to schedule a meeting during the "lunch hour" if it is at all possible (and it's almost always possible).

  • Ask team members whether they would like to schedule a meeting or not. You may be surprised at how often they say they prefer to cancel the meeting and just send an email if they have a question.

  • Make meetings higher level so you are discussing strategy and vision rather than project details. Again, make sure the right people are included in these meetings, and do not include too many people just for visibility's sake. Make space in the meeting to discuss the higher level view of a project, and trust your team to handle the execution.

  • Practice effective facilitation. A lot of work goes into being a good leader, and if you switch your mindset from running a meeting to facilitating a conversation, you can infuse your approach with more empathy, listening, and encouragement, yielding higher engagement. As Fearless Culture states, "Effective facilitation is vital to ensure equal participation, keep the team on track, and design effective conversations." (Source)

  • Be aware of squeaky wheels and people with big personalities to ensure they are not monopolizing the conversation. People prefer to participate in different ways, which is another reason meetings can be harmful--they can be a forum for loud people to voice their opinions while quieter people sit back and overthink or worry. Empathize with every person on the call. When you lead meetings, be aware of the voices you may need to quell and the opinions you may need to tap into and dig up with more effort to ensure everyone is heard in a way that works best for them.

  • Add engagement activities to meetings to increase participation, but only in the way your team members want to be led. Nothing is worse than being forced to have fun. But if your team members come up with the ideas themselves, or they lead the activities themselves, they will be spending the time doing something they enjoy. Just make sure there is clear business value.

  • Monitor any recurring meetings to make sure they are still holding value. Recurring meetings can become things employees dread on a regular basis. Don't let that happen to you. The reason you started scheduling these meetings may no longer apply, or the goals may have shifted, or the environment may have changed. Monitor these variables and don't be afraid to make adjustments as needed to ensure that any meeting time is absolutely vital and adds clear strategic value.


Clearly, running effective meetings is difficult. Otherwise, statistics would tell us meetings always boost productivity and wellbeing and trust. But they don't. Instead, we're seeing that meetings are often viewed as a waste of time. People want to be productive. Don't be the reason people are unproductive and unhappy. Find creative ways to empower effective collaboration based on how people prefer to communicate, and if you do absolutely have to hold a meeting, keep it tight, strategic, and quick, showing everyone you respect them enough to make their time worthwhile in ways that add value to them-- not just you.



Find creative ways to increase collaboration without wasting people's time with meaningless meetings

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