Fix Broken Meetings Before They Begin

“Meetings are stuck in the Stone Age,” writes Rebecca Hinds, organizational physician and entrepreneur, noting that most executives view them as inefficient and unproductive.

At her Work Innovation Lab, Hinds and research colleagues wanted to understand whether we could predict bad meetings before they even started.  Based on their research, they identified three anticipatory questions that you can ask to assess whether a meeting could become dysfunctional:
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1. Does your meeting have more than one purpose with different values for participants?  Having multiple purposes isn’t inherently bad, but if these purposes are unclear, or lack value to all attendees, that could be a red flag.
2. Does your meeting have a problem-solving component? When we are faced with a meaningful, challenging, yet solvable, problem, it can trigger a new level of focus and a state of “flow.” And flow states are a key predictor of job satisfaction and productivity.
3. Is there a strategy for after the meeting? Attendees should leave with a clear understanding of what’s next. Spend the last five minutes of the meeting outlining next steps and then Implement follow-up strategies.

​By asking these questions, says Hinds, you can head off bad meetings and reclaim control of your calendar. 

Looking at your calendar, can you spot any meetings that might be problematic? How might these 3 questions offer a more effective path forward? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.
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