No meetings as effective meeting strategies”

1. The platform for meeting leadership https://leadmeetings.com | +31 6 128 000 62 | info@rubenvanderlaan.com

2. A blog post from Leadmeetings “No meetings as effective meeting strategies”

3. Daydreaming about effective meeting strategies: no meeting! “Meetings are by definition a concession to deficient organization” is what Peter Drucker wrote in The Effective Executive. You either meet or you work. You can’t do both at the same time. Drucker again: “meetings need to be purposefully directed. An undirected meeting is not just a nuisance; it is a danger.” The danger lies in the fact that meetings tend to generate more follow-up meetings. And you start daydreaming about an organisation with no meetings. How would that be effective meeting strategies? And how would such an organisation look like? Meetings would be replaced by other activities. And you wouldn’t be waiting for the meeting to happen to do what you need to do. So, potentially, things would speed up.

4. 4 levels of 21st Century Meetings In an earlier post, I presented the 4 levels of 21st Century Meetings. You have meetings for: •operational and tactical stuff on team level •strategy, values and governance on organisational level •alignment and improving mastery •connecting with the outer community and broader world Now assuming that you’re making the transition to 21st Century Meetings, you would have meetings in those 4 levels. And moving towards a no-meeting organisations would mean finding no-meeting solutions for those 4 levels.

5. Making the no-meeting organisation What if we could achieve the results without having those meetings at all? Could that be listed under effective meeting strategies? Maybe it’s handy for you to have all the people together in a meeting, but is it also handy for them? So, let’s give it a try: •Operational meetings (for team level). If you need help from colleagues just walk by, call them, text them. Also use a (digital) board with all the actions to track how the team is moving forward. •Tactical meetings (for team level). When a problem keeps getting in the way, post it on a (digital) board and ask your team (or even a broader community) to come up with solutions. Give a deadline for the answers, just to be sure to know when you should be able to move on.

6. Making the no-meeting organisation • Strategy and values meetings (for organisation level). This is all about setting the purpose and the framework of how the work should be done (the values). To start with the latter: if you act along the value, also known as walking the talk… people will notice. No meeting needed there. When setting the purpose: a well-crafted questionnaire could do the trick. Also make sure you clarify your decision-making process (if someone is asked for input they’d love to know if they also have decision-making power).

7. Making the no-meeting organisation • Governance meetings (for organisation level). This meeting, at whatever level, is about decision-making. A tough one to tackle without meeting because meetings also create commitment. But why not engage people in a different way? For example: write the upcoming decision on a big flip chart, give several options, hang the flip chart and let people vote and write comments. Then review what they’ve written, take their comments seriously, make a decision and inform them in many ways (with the flipchart, by text message and by walking by). • Improving mastery. Increasing the mastery of your people through knowledge and training is essential. But should it really be done in a meeting room with long hours of listening to the expert? Ask the expert the do it one on one, give people some self-study and time. It’s probably cheaper with better results.

8. Making the no-meeting organisation • Improving mastery. Increasing the mastery of your people through knowledge and training is essential. But should it really be done in a meeting room with long hours of listening to the expert? Ask the expert the do it one on one, give people some self-study and time. It’s probably cheaper with better results. • Connecting with the community and outer world. This is about building the community. You should help the bonding in different ways. With a personal note, by sending them a small gift, by asking them a question on which they can chew and that would be helping you further.

9. Contact info • Phone: +31 6 128 000 62 • Email: info@rubenvanderlaan.com • Website: https://leadmeetings.com/ • Twitter: @rubenvanderlaan • LinkedIn: Ruben van der Laan • To join the free webinar visit: https://leadmeetings.com/webinar/ • For further reads, please visit: https://leadmeetings.com/blog/

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