Are you heading for a meeting meltdown? That’s when you waste so much time in pointless meetings that your brain blows a gasket, or you suffer death by PowerPoint.
It might be because you and your team are firefighting through your weekly catchups. By that, I mean you try to extinguish a problem or issue as soon as it pops up.
One person raises a problem, everyone jumps in with an opinion and the debate rolls on much longer than it should. Before you know it, time is up, and huge chunks of the agenda are left untouched.
I encourage my clients to split their meetings into different sections. Dedicate a portion of the meeting just for reporting to see if targets and goals are on track. This should take a matter of minutes.
Importantly, nothing gets solved here, which takes a fair amount of discipline. There are no in-depth discussions; you simply flag any problems and create an Issues List, which can be worked through later in the meeting in order of priority – saving everyone time and gaskets.
How do you keep your meetings focused? Let me know in the comments below. You’ll also find a link to my free Boardroom Insights sessions, where I cover the formula for a focused and efficient meeting.