Highly Inefficient Meetings

The effectiveness of a meeting largely depends on the meeting organizer, making them responsible for most of the reasons behind inefficient meetings. I’ve put together a list of inefficient meetings I’ve encountered in various contexts.

Meetings without clear objectives for decision-making

The CEO was unhappy with how the employees were working. The tasks were not completed correctly, and the progress reports were not handled appropriately. Hence, the CEO decided to convene a meeting with the project leader and all employees. During the meeting, the CEO specifically pointed out the mistakes made by each participant. Witnessing the CEO’s anger, the employees chose to remain silent and not express their views. In response to the silent employees, the CEO’s anger heightened, leading them to scold the employees for their absence of ownership. After giving a long speech, the CEO concluded the meeting by instructing the project leader to show improvement in the next meeting.

It is best for opinions on work to be discussed during work progress. Small, prompt feedback can be efficient and help avoid unnecessary emotional fatigue. As CEO, it’s important to give periodic feedback to the project leader and delegate tasks for meticulous employee management. When it comes to reviewing the entire project, it is best for the project leader to arrange a review meeting, provide an overview of the project’s strengths and weaknesses, and exchange thoughts with team members beforehand.

The CEO called this meeting to address and rectify employees’ improper behaviors. Thus, meeting progress must efficiently achieve specific goals, including identifying and acknowledging mistakes, brainstorming improvement strategies, and informing participants of immediate tasks.

Meetings with the goal of persuading others

When conflicting opinions arise, a meeting can be arranged to decide which opinion holds the most validity. Given that everyone has their own opinions and supporting data, it’s challenging to reach full agreement. One may believe that meeting goals can only be achieved by convincing the other party. When the meeting organizer backs one side and holds a meeting to promote that stance, issues arise.

The meeting organizer doesn’t need to be neutral all the time during meetings. It’s not a good idea to hide one’s opinion and bias while leading a meeting. The meeting organizer needs to clearly distinguish negotiable and non-negotiable points among opposing opinions. If feasible, they should thoroughly examine the data and explain how these specifics should be understood in contrasting viewpoints. Meeting organizers who suppress conflicting key points or give them little attention won’t achieve consensus among participants.

Thus, the objective of a meeting should be consensus-building, not persuasion.

Meetings that rely on opinions rather than data

In line with what was previously stated, meetings involving opposing viewpoints should include data and interpretations as evidence. The significance of data increases in meetings where scientists from different fields come together to discuss drug discovery projects.

Every piece of data should be accessible to the finest detail in such meetings. The act of presenting data in a dashboard format for easy viewing is extremely beneficial, and progress reports are typically shared in advance of meetings. If data like this isn’t shared in a meeting, it won’t be successful. However, as the saying goes, 'the devil is in the details,' important points are often hidden beneath such organized data. To achieve consensus through data-driven decisions, one must uncover hidden points and be open to changing interpretations.

When dashboards offer visualization but lack accessibility to detailed data, it becomes challenging to pinpoint actionable insights. Even when identified, these insights cannot be immediately verified, leading to difficulty in reaching a consensus. Ultimately, the desired outcome of the meeting is not attained. Thus, data must be organized to facilitate effective visualization in meetings. Preparation for this is essential for meeting participants, and meeting organizers should strongly encourage thorough preparation.

Meetings running longer than scheduled

A meeting that exceeds its scheduled time without the issues mentioned above is also inefficient. If the meeting organizer can get participants to agree to spend a bit more time to reach consensus and organize action items, it’s preferable to scheduling another meeting. Aside from those instances, meetings must always conclude at the assigned time. If ‘ending meetings on time’ is a higher priority for the meeting organizer, there is usually a definite conclusion.

Meetings can eat up everyone’s time, making effective time planning essential for productivity. While decreased individual productivity is significant, an organization consistently breaking time commitments is an even greater concern. An organization’s efficiency relies on its ability to uphold promises, as productivity is contingent upon it. When meetings consistently exceed their allotted time in your organization, it may be a sign of a flawed culture.

Conclusion

Of course, there could be other kinds of inefficient meetings as well. However, two main reasons for inefficient meetings are the organizer’s failure to fulfill their role and the absence of an efficient data review process. Mastery of the meeting organizer role necessitates ongoing education and coaching, while efficient data review requires organizational preparation and investment. The importance of this second aspect is often underestimated, but it plays a crucial role in boosting overall productivity in organizations through systemic resolution.