Meetings 1 Should we have a meeting?

Three blocks with the letters W.H.Y
Image Credit
Ann H via Pexels

In this lesson, you will learn how to be purposeful and explicit by defining "the why" and clearly articulating your aims and goals of the meeting. 

Introduction

Do you agree or disagree with the following quotes? Why?

  • Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better. - Peter Druker
  • To make our meetings more effective, we need to have multiple types of meetings, and clearly distinguish between the various purposes, formats, and timing of those meetings. - Patrick Lencioni
Warm Up

Reflect on a typical day and your work tasks. How many meetings do you participate in on any given day, week, or month? Do you think all your meetings are necessary, or are there other ways to communicate information? 

Language

When you have a meeting, it is important to first define the formality and reason for the meeting. This motivates your participants to attend and prepare.  

a). Look at the following words and fill in the blanks. 
client, leadership, chat, meet, all-hands, committee

  1. Shall we _______ to discuss this issue further?
  2. Why don't we meet for a coffee and have a quick _______, so we can look at your presentation?
  3. I think we should have an _______ meeting to let everyone know the clients' decision.
  4. Let's bring this to the next _______ meeting so we can review progress and talk strategy.
  5. We should bring the _______ up to speed as soon as possible, so they know what we're planning.
  6. This seems to be a decision for upper _______. Let's get them into the loop and have them discuss with the execs on the client side. 

b). Not all situations require meetings and it usually depends on your audience, urgency, and the type of information! Look at the following and give one or two examples for each category: 

  1. Written Communication is used for things that need to be documented, like official announcements, policy changes, and strategic insight sharing.
  2. Visual or Interactive Tools are used for real-time data updates, structured presentations and simplifying complex information or trainings.
  3. Digital and Collaborative Platforms are used for quick updates, announcements or discussions.
  4. Hybrid Approaches are used to combine real-time engagement with a written record or for changes that might generate questions like a policy shift.
Practice

Decide how to communicate the new information. 

Scenario 1:

The marketing team just changed the campaign launch date. Everyone in the project needs to know ASAP.
→ What method would you use?
→ Who needs to know?
→ Is this formal or informal?

Scenario 2:

Your firm has updated its travel policy and wants all staff to follow new procedures.
→ What method(s) would you use to communicate this?
→ Would you follow up in a meeting? Why or why not?

Scenario 3:

You’ve analyzed Q1 data and want to share key findings with the leadership team.
→ What format is best for presenting the information?
→ Would you provide visuals?

Scenario 4:

A junior consultant on your team isn’t clear on their role in an upcoming project.
→ How would you communicate with them?
→ What tone would you use?

What meeting alternatives do you use the most, e.g., written communications, interactive tools, collaborative platforms, and hybrid approaches?

Which ones do you use the least? Are some approaches more demanding regarding English language proficiency?

Our next lesson will look at ensuring the purpose of the meeting is clear. Think about the meetings you have been involved in where there were unclear objectives or the meeting felt aimless or pointless.

Think about what you could do differently to ensure each meeting is purposeful and meaningful.