The 25 Minute Meeting

CHAPTER 5 Show up

Now that you know how to set up a 25-minute meeting, you need to decide how you’re going to show up and how you’re going to encourage others to show up, too.

First, let’s start with you.

You don’t need to tell the whole world that you are now ‘doing 25-minute meetings’.

You simply do them!

From now on, irrespective of what your role in the meeting is, you can look for opportunities to make the meeting shorter and add value to everyone involved.

The 3 P’s of showing up

As the meeting chair, or convenor, or for meetings you control, you need to stress the importance of:

1. Preparedness. Everyone has to have done the pre-work and be ready for the discussion.
2. Punctuality. Irrespective of who is in the room, the meeting will start and end on time. There is no repetition or make-up for latecomers.
3. Presence. No laptops or phones in the meeting; it’s 25 minutes of focused discussion. If you can’t make it, you may send a proxy but they must be punctual, prepared and present.

The 3 P’s of showing up (shown in figure 5.1), become your meeting ground rules, for which there are no exceptions.

Figure 5.1: the 3 P’s of showing up

PREPAREDNESS

Lack of planning and preparation is one of the biggest causes of ineffective meetings. It creates unnecessary frustration and delays.

A lack of planning on your part doesn’t constitute an emergency on mine.

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