You want to know what is one of my biggest time-wasting, energy-draining, progress-killing pet peeves?
It’s meetings. Specifically, the kind where you spend an hour discussing all the things that need to get done and how and why, and then at the end of the hour everyone slaps the table, says “good talk”, and wanders back to their desks. Everyone feels like they’ve accomplished something!
But then the next meeting rolls around and the group needs to rehash the whole conversation because no one took notes, much less took responsibility for any of the tasks talked about. And eventually the program manager starts panicking about running out of money and the schedule slipping, and no one is having a good time.
Maybe it’s just me, but I cannot stand meetings where it’s never actually decided who is going to do something. Because guess what? Everyone will assume someone else has “got it”, when really nobody has.
Y’all, can we please fix this?
Here are the three outputs that should come out of every meeting. (And yes, I do mean every.)
#1: What needs to get done?
Point out specific, actionable tasks. Just like with writing a resume, these should start with action words: look into options for prototype shops. Finish calculations for wing loads. These don’t have to follow the SMART framework, but they do need a deliverable, e.g. an email sent, phone called, plots made, whatever.
#2: Who needs to do it?
A meeting action item is not a team project. Identify one specific person in the meeting and assign them the task, or at the absolute least, assign them the responsibility for the task. They can delegate it, but it’s their job to make sure it gets done. I’d argue this is similar psychology to circumventing the bystander effect—though obviously you’re not asking someone to do something as critical as calling 911 (I hope).
#3: When does it need to be done?
You don’t necessarily need a deadline for the task, but you DO need a deadline for presenting progress on that task! This can be as simple as planning your next meeting: open your calendar and do it in the current meeting, before everyone disperses and your schedules get filled with all the other requests put on you. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it doesn’t have to be recurring. But if it’s not on the calendar before you leave that room (physical or digital) then you might never talk about it again.
And there it is: three simple bits of information that should come out of every meeting to hopefully prevent you from just going in circles every time. I wrote this with the workplace in mind but it can be just as useful in your personal life, even if you’re just doing something as simple as asking your partner or roommate to get groceries:
- What: Get items from the shopping list.
- Who: You or your partner, but only one.
- When: Ideally, before your home is empty of sustenance. So today after work.
Boom! Done, and all it took was a 5-minute phone call. Now everyone knows what they’re contributing and you can get back to thinking about more important things.