How long does your 10-minute meeting last?
The question may appear foolish. But the answers you may get can tell a different story, because in most of the companies meetings last much longer than they were intended to.
Company meetings suck. Well, most of them. More so, if they go on endlessly. Most meetings become blackholes where precious company hours are lost without any trace. Organizations can catch this “meetingitis”, if not taken care of. How does a company conduct its meetings, says a lot about its past, present and its future.
Some organizations are meticulous in conducting internal meetings. Their meetings start and end on time, they stick to the agenda and get real work done. Everyone is clear about who has to do what and when. These organizations prosper. But such organizations are not many.
In most organizations, meetings are the biggest drain on people’s time. When the senior or top management is always busy in meetings, the company begins to suffer from “meetingitis”. And in most cases, business leaders themselves are responsible for this organizational malaise.
In many cases, we participate or witness meetings that start without an agenda, all and sundry are called, nobody takes notes, nobody commits anything and the discussions go on and on for hours without any fruitful outcome.
I have sat in meetings conducted by business leaders which started as a seemingly innocuous “Let us meet for 10-minutes” from the boss and then went on for more than 10 hours…! What happens? Once started, one thing leads to another. Unnecessary details are pored over. Different people are called, and it goes on and on.
The business leaders must realize the damage such meetings are causing to the company’s performance and they must correct this cultural flaw in their organizations. At least, they must not become the perpetrators of this corporate crime. Very long meetings are a symptom of some systemic failure of information and communication systems within an organization. This needs to be cured.
Let not your “10-minute meeting” extend to hours. Let not your company suffer from “meetingitis”. Be watchful, if not handled in time, it can kill companies.
– Sanjay Shah.
For more information: https://bit.ly/3te3Xmh