Meeting Purposes and Your Part

1 minute read

My first post on meetings covered setting and sticking to an agenda.

When you look at the agenda, what exactly are YOU expected to do in this meeting? How are you supporting it in a way that others don’t?

If you aren’t sure, that’s a great indicator to pump the brakes on attending. 

I like to think of meetings as ways to do three basic things that require a group of people to interact:

  1. Create options & actions to solve a business issue
  2. Make a decision
  3. Exchange relevant information & insights

If you (as an individual) aren’t clearly doing one (or more) of these things in every meeting, rethink attending. Your time may be far better spent doing other work. It could be a great item to delegate, or you may want to get informed some other way.

If your manager asks you to attend and you aren’t clear on your specific action and the resulting value, ask them what they specifically want you to accomplish. Reminding them that you want to be responsible with your time lets them know you are being deliberate with your two most important resources….your time & energy.

Photo by Tim Gouw