Are Meetings a Waste of Time?

When people blanket state that meetings are a waste of time, I don't know how to respond.

It's simply not true.

Meetings are dedicated time for us to communicate with each other. As a large part of project management relies on communication, it seems meetings would be critical to success.

Yes, of course, there are poorly run meetings that can be a waste of time.

The good news is that we have become more aware over the years and now there is a plethora of information, training, coaching, etc available to your team to level up when it comes to meetings. No excuses anymore. 😅

In my work with SMBs, lack of communication is often a point of failure. By implementing simple touch points (aka MEETINGS) we are able to resolve issues quickly, share resources and ideas efficiently, and build a culture of care and accountability.

Why is this important?

Many reasons, but the most obvious is often TRACTION.

➡️ Here's an example:

In April I traveled to visit a client on site to implement new operational policies, including regularly scheduled team weekly meetings.

During my presentation, I mentioned the importance of traction in business, and how our regular touch points could help us gauge progress as individuals, teams, and as a whole. I explained this was key in order for us to move together toward shared goals and respond quickly to challenges or changes in the market.

One of the junior staff raised their hand and asked for further explanation of what I meant by traction, so we chatted for a bit about it, but I could tell it still wasn't quite clicking.

Four weeks later as I was leading the weekly meeting, I noticed there was a marked change in the individual wins report. People were now reporting major wins like record-setting revenue days, new contracts initiated, and key partnerships formed.

We were headed in the right direction. ✈️

"THIS is traction", I said with a big smile. "And this is why it's important for us to stay connected and in frequent communication about the things that matter."

I think it clicked. 💫

❓ How do you use meetings to push your team forward?