No Agenda? No Thank You.
https://unsplash.com/@michaelfousert
Get in the Habit Series | Part 2
Have you ever received a meeting invitation with absolutely no indication as to what it is about? You look at the title and attendees and wonder why this is worth 60 minutes of your time. With no warning, you show up unprepared to engage in the conversation and you half pay attention while you continue to check your email and do the other things on your To Do list. No one has told you why this meeting is important so why would you prioritize it over the things that you know more about? Or maybe, like me, you don't like being unprepared, so you reach out to the meeting organizer trying to learn more, taking unnecessary time from your day and theirs.
The Meeting Description, which is far too often left blank, is your first opportunity as a meeting organizer to set the stage for success. This simple act not only hones your own skills in relationship management by being thoughtful and intentional with your colleagues' time, but it also gives everyone more information, which is the first step to good conversation and (when needed) healthy conflict. In the Get in the Habit Series Part 1 - The What, Why, and How of Emotional intelligence - we learned the importance of developing our emotional intelligence and how it can lead to developing essential professional skills. What many don't realize is that the emotional intelligence domains like self-management and relationship management are more about what happens before the management moment is needed; someone that is in control of their emotions and can engage in crucial conversations in any given situation has likely spent time preparing for that situation.
Here's an example:
Have you ever seen someone give a presentation and you thought - wow, they are a really good presenter? You probably assume that they just have skills you don't have when in fact any professional speaker will tell you that a good presentation always comes down to good preparation. A speech that seems flawless and off the cuff has likely been rehearsed more hours than you would ever believe. When anyone is starting out trying to improve an underdeveloped emotional intelligence domain, it's like giving a speech for the first time. You need to practice it over and over. Eventually, you get to the point where smaller presentations require no practice, but that's only because you've basically been practicing for twenty years. Even so, no Speaker would ever get on a big stage without practicing and so no employee should ever head into a big meeting without preparing.
Being in the moment with a group of people requires preparation before the moment. When it comes to meetings, that starts with the meeting organizer.
Get in the Habit of Adding a Purpose Statement to Your Meetings
Despite the title of this article, I recognize that we may not have the time to add a full agenda to every meeting, and not every meeting will require a full agenda, but we should at the very least know what we are hoping to accomplish. By adding a purpose statement to your meetings, you are doing three things:
Purpose Statements Create Intentionality: To be able to create a purpose statement, you are forced to slow down for two minutes and ask yourself - why am I adding this meeting to the calendar? What are we trying to accomplish? By doing this, you may realize that this doesn't need to be a meeting at all. If the purpose is just to get a status update, then maybe consider some asynchronous collaboration, otherwise you may end up hosting one of those meeting where everyone leaves thinking that could have been an email.
Purpose Statements Save Time: When we know what we're discussing and hoping to get out of the meeting ahead of time, we don't need to spend time trying to explain or gather more information and can instead get right to work when the meeting begins. It also allows for attendees to clear up any errors in the invitation list. If the purpose statement does not appear to be something you can contribute to, then maybe the meeting would be more productive with someone else in attendance.
Purpose Statements Help Prepare the Audience: A simple guiding sentence (e.g., The purpose of this meeting is to brainstorm ideas for the Quarterly Summit) allows all attendees to know that this is not a meeting where we will be making decisions, nor is it a meeting where I will be sitting back and listening; this is a meeting where I need to come ready with my ideas and be prepared to participate
Adding a purpose statement is a simple habit that will help you practice self-management and lead to improved relationship management. I challenge you to start adding these to your meetings and see if it makes a difference. For meetings that are more important, try taking a stab at a full agenda. A little preparation up front saves significant time and energy in the end, and those invited will have a better employee experience all around.
For more meeting tips check out The Path to Effective Meetings.
Check out other related posts
Clearing the Path for Change | Part 4
It is ironic that the only way I have managed to start writing this article on Focus Time, was to wake up at 5am on a Saturday. It has been on my To Do list for weeks, but somehow there was always something more pressing that bumped it down the line. Does this sound familiar to you? Too often the environment that we are living and working in does not leave enough uninterrupted space to focus on the things that matter most.