Last month, we took a step back and dove deeper into the meaning of the How behind the What. Oftentimes, the easiest part of creating change is what to do, but if the How or Why behind these activities is unclear, change can seem impossible. Today, we will be discussing another common area in which you can create change within your organization and how the 4 steps of leading through empowerment can be applied in this area by using the How and Why behind it.
Meetings
Have you ever been in a meeting and thought to yourself, “What is the point of this meeting?” or “I don’t even know why we’re all here?” Typically, this happens with recurring meetings. Although recurring meetings are scheduled to solve or serve what is thought to be an ongoing need, the need may change over time. In time, the purpose for the meeting could have been resolved or the need no longer exists. Despite the lack of a material reason to gather, these meetings continue in a lot of cases.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, it is important to look at your calendar and ask yourself two critical questions regarding all of your meetings. First, is this meeting really needed? Furthermore, is there a different way that we can achieve the same outcome without a formal meeting? Second, do I really need to be there? If the meeting truly does not need to happen, then you need to be brave enough to “Kill it”.
For recurring meetings, it is also important to give permission to others to speak up when they feel that they are no longer necessary. If this belief is raised and there is a consensus, “Kill it”. I like the phrase “Kill it”, because if you don’t kill the meeting, then the meeting will kill your time.
The second question, do I really need to be there?, is sometimes harder to answer and may require a few conversations before you can see your way out of attending the meeting. One specific example sticks in my mind and blends the how behind the what for both meetings and responsibilities. At one of my companies, we have a weekly operations team meeting on Monday mornings. I ran that meeting for many years, but along the way, we had grown tremendously. There was now someone responsible for leading the service delivery and operations team. That person was not me, but he did report to me. So, I had a chat with him and asked him how he felt about me still running our Monday morning meetings as well as if there was value in my continued attendance. He looked at me and said, and I’m paraphrasing, “That’s my team, I don’t even know why you still want to run that meeting let alone attend it. Not only is it frustrating, but it reduces my effectiveness as a leader. What kind of message does your presence send about my ability to lead when you won’t even let me lead this meeting?” I was shocked, to say the least, but appreciated his candor. After the conversation, I promptly saw my way out of HIS meeting.
This conversation was had in-depth with my entire team, each time I started with the same question, “What meetings do I need to see my way out of and let you lead?”. I was surprised by the answers and I think you may be surprised by the feedback you get, as well as how much time in your week you can free up to better devote yourself to your most important work. I personally reclaimed 5 hours per week from this one exercise. Think about that, I got back an eighth of my time based on a normal 40-hour work week.
Lastly, this is not a one-and-done evaluation and conversation. It is important to routinely do this so that you don’t get sucked back into meetings that you shouldn’t be in. You will need to constantly defend your time to make these changes last.