A little less conversation a little more action.
I think it’s important to talk. I think a prompt guided meeting is good for sharing information, gaining c
onsensus and ensuring that we are all following the right strategic path is THE most productive time you can have.
But – and this is a massive BUT – there’s a time when the conversation has to stop and you actually have to bloody well do something.
Meetings are important for the following:
• Keep on top of tasks list – creating public accountability.
• Making sure people are following business trajectory – not going off on a tangent
• Getting input from your peers that you may not have thought about
• Allocating resources if teams are falling behind
We have weekly meets – with the leadership team, departmental teams, and board – to keep on track. But in order for them to be SUPER productive, we have a quick fire agenda to keep them short and to the point.
They go as follows;
• Accountability – review of agreed tasks from last week
• Quickfire review of what they’ve been up to and what they are doing this week.
• i.e. “I have completed the round of franchise visits, and this week I’ll be submitting my quarterly reports, and completing my task arising from that.”
• Wins – we always share successes
• Cracks – problems we may be seeing – workload, lack of performance etc
• Planes to Land – Agree on tasks of this week
And this is pretty speedy – 70-90 minutes on a Monday (all departmental heads/leadership teams) and 30 mins departmental updates weekly.
This effective meeting is part of a layering process.
It starts with our business plan, then it adds our objectives and key results – the main areas of focus, and the key numbers that show our business is going in the right direction. That then boils down to our 100 days plans in our business – which we stay on top of via our weekly meets and daily actions.
It’s a layering effect of output and accountability – that is a key point of good meetings.
Meetings with those who just like to chat are quite frankly a bloody waste of time. If you go into a meeting without an agenda, and people aren’t prepared, and they repeatedly don’t achieve what is set out to be achieved then its just burning up precious time.
Meet by all means have a chat – but makes sure it’s productive. As the late great Elvis Presley used to say, ‘A little less conversation, a little more action’.
Kate x