The 25 Minute Meeting

CHAPTER 1 Meetings are painful

Think of the last meeting you ran or attended.

Would you say it was purposeful, mindful or even useful?

Did you leave feeling energised?

Could you say it was a good use of your time?

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, then you are among the lucky 10 per cent of those who say meetings make a positive difference to their work — but wait! Before you throw away this book with a satisfied smile, let me ask you: Why did you pick it up in the first place?

If you’re reading a book on how to improve your meetings then I’d say those meetings you say are useful may still not be up to scratch.

Most of us will find ourselves in with the other 90 per cent who say that meetings are frequently wasteful, woeful and painful. One study by Clarizen, a software company, even found that people would rather take a trip to the department of motor vehicles (DMV) or watch paint dry than attend a workplace meeting. Apparently, 8 per cent of responders said they’d rather endure a root canal!

The status quo

I once heard a very senior leader in a global organisation remark, ‘You can have a long career here by going from one meeting to another and never actually doing any real work’.

In most organisations, an employee’s success (or failure) is measured against key performance indicators (KPIs). I have yet to see a KPI that says, ‘attend heaps of boring and ineffective meetings’.

And yet there is an expectation that people will do just that, on top of getting their task-driven ...