MEETINGS: What Are They Good For?

Ok, that's a silly question, isn't it? Meetings. What are they good for? Well, for meeting. Together. Finding consensus, making a plan. Nice idea. If only it worked better.

I was first exposed to the culture of "meeting" early in my career, but it reached a shocking crescendo when I was working for one of the world's largest beauty brands. I felt SO sorry for their employees. It was one meeting after another, after another, and so on. Question: when was any actual work getting done? All head and no body makes for an extremely lopsided configuration.

I vowed that I would not create the culture of "meeting" in my own business. It didn't start out that way. Back when I was a division of a larger company our "staff" meetings could last all day. Brutal, and quite frankly stupid. Today, they are generally quick and to the point - as long as I'm not leading them (not really true, but mostly).

Truth is I like a good meeting. It's super important for providing vision and creating direction. But one meeting after another doesn't really get you anywhere.

My staff is not the biggest proponent of the meeting and I've learned to flow with this. We do quickies on the go and bigger ones once in a while and voila! It all happens.

So, meetings. Obviously, they're necessary. My suggestion: keep them organized by knowing what you want them to accomplish before you show up. And make sure there is a nice list of next steps with clear deadlines by the end. Then a meeting has a purpose. And that's the purpose of a meeting, after all. Lol.