97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know

Chapter 38. Meetings Don't Write Code

William J. Mills

TOO OFTEN, people who could be doing something more productive are trapped in meetings—meetings that have wandered off their intended purpose, run over time, or trapped an entire team in the room when a more limited set of people would be just as effective. Only schedule meetings that have a specific purpose, and only include people on the invitation list who need to be there. Here's an obvious list of things to avoid, as software project manager, when you are planning your team meetings:

• Chit-chat. If you have participants who use this time to have informal project-related exchanges, remind them to come a few minutes early or plan to spend time together after the meeting. You can't afford for the entire group to wait until they finish chatting.

• Not getting in, getting done, and getting out. Plan a clear agenda that is distributed beforehand. If you assemble the entire team, be sure your topics are relevant to everyone.

• Diving too deep. It is good to bring up risk issues or roadblocks that have arisen. However, this is not the place to hammer out the solutions. Form smaller groups, or designate the appropriate team member, to pursue the issue after the meeting.

The minute software engineers start talking about specific implementation details, have them make a note to remain after the main meeting and move on with your scheduled agenda. ...