I’m sure you know the feeling . . . You spend all this time discussing an issue, project or policy during a meeting. But a few days later you can’t remember who was responsible for implementation. If you can’t remember, a lot of times it ends up being YOU! How’s that for a stress creator?
So, what’s the fix? Ownership. In this day and age, the parade of meetings can blend together, especially if you have ganged them during a morning or afternoon. Sure, you do this so you’ll have a block of time to work on other projects. But do you really re-member the decisions that came out of meetings number three and four, or even five and six?
Even if you remember the decision, will you remember the reasoning? That can make things tricky when you have to revisit or follow up on what needs to happen. This is another recipe for leader stress and overwhelm. You may have a great memory. But you should not have to keep track of absolutely everything. This should be done by those implementing what needs to be done.
That means that every decision made during every meeting should be assigned to someone who be responsible for guiding its implementation. Whenever a decision is being made about a policy, project, purchase, or anything else, the first question to be asked is, “Who will own this?” Sometimes that will be clearly apparent because of the issue. But when it is not, ownership needs to be established right then.
Ask this question at the beginning of the discussion, so that the person can take notes, ask questions and clarify exactly what needs to be done. If you wait to do this at the end, they won’t remember all the details. Then they’ll have to chase you and others down for clarity.
This may take some diligence at first. But once it is established this process with become a regular part of every meeting. Give it a try and you’ll see the results and you’ll reduce your stress. I’m Bob Wendover.