First why, then when

Get clear on the purpose before anyone starts looking at the schedule

Meetings exist for a reason. We need to collaborate with other people to achieve goals we couldn’t achieve on our own.

But, as I study people’s schedules, I keep hearing the complaint that organizations often rely so heavily on meetings that they become counterproductive. Every project needs its weekly meetings to make sure people are still doing their jobs — because there are so many other meetings that a meeting is the only way to enforce accountability and deadlines. Having half a schedule full of meetings is not at all atypical. That leaves little time for doing the work people are meeting about!

There are lots of factors at work, but one tweak can help with lowering the volume. Whenever people start talking about meeting, the first question should be “why?” before getting to “when?”

That is, when someone says “we need to meet about the Smith project,” the first question should not be “when is everyone free to meet?” it should be “what do we need to decide about the Smith project?” In other words, what is the purpose of this meeting?

Setting positive boundaries

There’s no need to make this question antagonistic. There are lots of positive ways to frame it. “I’d love to talk about the Smith project — what are we trying to decide?” or “I’d love to meet about that — can you tell me a little bit more about how you’d like me to help so I know how best to prepare?”

These are all legitimate questions. You don’t want to waste the other person’s time either! Asking these questions leads to some good follow-up information. You might find out that the thing the person needs to decide about the Smith project is not in your purview. You have no power to approve it…and so you are not the right person to meet with. Good to know before it’s on the schedule! Or maybe you see that the thing you’re supposed to help with is information you have readily available. You can send it over. No need to meet!

Creating an agenda

Now of course you may see that you really do need to decide something together. If so, asking this question is great because now you have the skeleton of an agenda for your meeting. You know what the outcome needs to be and so you can work backwards to figure out how you will get there, and how long those steps will take. Not only do you know you do need to meet, you will have a much better meeting.

I believe this question can even be wise with meeting requests from people higher up the chain of command. You aren’t trying to get out of something. You’re asking the “why” so you can do the work necessary to have the best meeting possible.“Can you let me know what we’ll be covering so I can help prepare?” or “I want to make sure I bring all the necessary information — can you let me know which topics we’ll be discussing?”

When you have a good “why,” you can then enthusiastically find a time on the schedule that works. You know you won’t spend the first ten minutes of the meeting figuring out why you’re meeting. Better to ask that question up front and avoid the problem.