Effective Meetings in a Remote World

With the change in remote working we’re all feeling a bit disconnected from the day to day osmosis we were used to getting from being in the office.  One way we’re coping with that is meetings.  We’re planning meetings because we need meetings, our clients request meetings and the team has gotten so big that we think sharing things to a massive group at once is necessary and therefore we book another meeting.  See the struggle? We’re running out of actual time to do the work that we’re meeting about.

So how do we make it better?

There is no magic solution, but these four guidelines should help us all make a dent in what has become an unmanageable calendar:  

#1 - All meetings require an agenda in the calendar invite.  This will allow people to know what to expect in the meeting, allow the meeting to stay on track and ensure a clear outcome can be communicated at the end of the meeting.  If anyone was not able to attend, the agenda plus the communicated outcome post meeting to all invitees allows everyone to stay in the loop.

#2 - Amazon’s Pizza Rule - If two pizzas cannot feed the room it’s too many people.  What does this really mean? If you’re so many people in a meeting that no one but the host can meaningfully contribute then it’s not a meeting but rather a presentation (see #3).  Meetings should allow everyone an opportunity to engage and offer the host an opportunity to ask for input from quieter attendees (think Inclusive meeting structures).

#3 - Record your meetings - If your meeting requires more than two pizzas or your expectation of meeting time commitment is not reasonable (see #4) you’ve likely entered into presentation territory.  If you’re not looking for employee engagement beyond Q&A at the end, the meeting should be optional and watching the recording should have a deadline.  Making it optional allows those who know they will have additional questions an opportunity to ask them live, and the presenter will have the recording to share with others including future hires.  You’re essentially building better onboarding as you continue to grow.  Another option is to record your presentation and then offer an AMA on the topic for 30 minutes to the team.  Remember to record that as well.  Save these recordings in one local drive, title them properly (library rules folks!) and share with new hires.

#4 - Agree as an organization to a reasonable time limit on meetings.  I have opened up client calendars and seen 2+ hour long meetings with 20+ attendees. Ya...No.  If you’re organized with an agenda and the right attendees you should be able to reduce the lengths of your meetings exponentially.

Remember, meetings don’t build your team culture and they don’t replace meaningful conversations, interactions and engagement.