Want an instant cure to some of your stress? Stop meeting so much. I know, some people say, “I don’t want to meet. I am forced to meet. People put meetings on my calendar. It seems like we have meetings for the sake of meeting.” Well, let me identify eleven reasons you shouldn’t be meeting and five simple ways to eliminate these nuisance commitments.
#1 It’s a standing meeting.
#2 The purpose is to rubber stamp something already approved or in motion.
#3 The team has not met in a while.
#4 The organizer has not produced an agenda, so people can prepare.
#5 The issue can easily be discussed and/or resolved via email, Slack, or Google doc.
#6 This is a single topic meeting that could be combined into another meeting.
#7 You’re calling the meeting reflexively to respond to an isolated crisis.
#8 You need to make an announcement that could be sent via email.
#9 Everyone comes prepared to do other work while in the meeting.
#10 The meeting is performative. You’re meeting just to say you’ve met.
#11 It’s really just a status update.
What other reasons would you add to this list?
Okay, so what are some practical ways to eliminate some of these nuisance commitments? Here are five from my book, Overcoming Overwhelm.
#1 Ask if you really have to attend. Yes, that’s right, just ask. Many times, we can be swept up in an all-hands meeting where our time could be better spent elsewhere. A variation of this is the contingency request, as in “We might need you.” You don’t know unless you ask to be excused.
#2 Ask if you can only attend for the portion that pertains to you. This an alternative to number one. Even if you are still asked to be at the meeting, spending twenty or thirty minutes there is a heck of a lot better than spending one or two hours.
#3 Tell them you have another commitment. Unless it’s your boss, no one will ask what the other commitment is. Trust me on this. I use it all the time.
#4 Ask to go first. Being first on the agenda can sometimes enable you to slip out after your term. Refer to number three. Just whisper to the person next to you, “I have another commitment,” and then slip out. Caution – don’t tell anyone else about this strategy. If everyone tries it, there will be nobody left in the meeting and the boss will notice.
#5 Ask if you can “phone” it in. Can you send a memo? Can you email a report in advance? Can you connect virtually without having to travel to the meeting itself? You get the idea. Once again, you don’t know unless you try. If someone protests that you’re always trying to get out of attending meetings, just reply be saying, “I am simply trying to be as productive as possible.” How can they argue with that?
If you want some other ideas, check out the book. What strategies do you use? Put them in the comments. We all need to help each other.