Important meetings, where decisions are made and strategies set, need to be primed for success. They are simply too critical to have people show up and begin thinking of the issues, problems, and opportunities under discussion for the first time.
We all want our people to do their due diligence (in this case it's the homework).
With CliffsNotes, Blinkist, and whoever else exists in this domain; it can be difficult to determine who did not read the material and/or do the work. This doesn't even touch on AI. I know there's going to have to be compromise. I do like how you prefer to handle it. Unfortunately, excluding individuals from the meeting, can also be exactly what they want. Limbo is a tough place to be. I suspect we are left with continued efforts at team involvement. Perhaps examples of showing you care, putting in the work, and owning our domain/s will help get that coveted buy-in. Either way there do have to be consequences for our actions. I like a documented "pre-work" task/sample (as long as they are on the clock). That shows professionalism.
This is a hard one. I'm a retired teacher, and I can attest to the importance of being prepared for important meetings, like state testing prep, active shooter training, and test score data analysis to move our students forward. All of these topics required assigned readings or research. The meetings WERE efficient and effective. So much so, that we were assigned pre-workout for EVERY Wednesday meeting on top of our work for our students and families. It became busy work and we all set our priorities and didn't do the assigned work. Admin even had us turn in something or sign something, but we still didn't do it. While this is a good strategy, the leaders need to assess workload purpose.
I've been toying with the idea of how I can incorporate Jeff Bezo's 'crisp document and a messy meeting' into the way I run meetings with my direct reports and how my team delivers leadership training. I have one simple ask for my folks to do prior to our bi-weekly meetings - Update the project tracker prior to the meeting. Most of the time they don't. Often, I can see them updating it at the start of the meeting. Rather than continue to get annoyed, I'm thinking about spending the first 10 minutes updating the Tracker together and agenda building. The goal would be to create a shared experience. I've been thinking about doing the same thing for a new first-level leader development program we're getting ready to start - Instead of having people complete an online course prior to the live session (flipped learning model) - instead, I thought of finding a short, thought provoking article to read at the beginning of each live session - I might still include the pre-work course for those motivated self-learners - but at least I can guarantee (almost - someone could fake read) that we're on the same page if we all read it together at the start of the class.
Meeting management is so important if the meeting is going to be effective - why would you accept an invitation to attend a meeting if you didn't know what the meeting was about in terms of objectives and why you have been invited ?
Good morning,
This is a tough one.
We all want our people to do their due diligence (in this case it's the homework).
With CliffsNotes, Blinkist, and whoever else exists in this domain; it can be difficult to determine who did not read the material and/or do the work. This doesn't even touch on AI. I know there's going to have to be compromise. I do like how you prefer to handle it. Unfortunately, excluding individuals from the meeting, can also be exactly what they want. Limbo is a tough place to be. I suspect we are left with continued efforts at team involvement. Perhaps examples of showing you care, putting in the work, and owning our domain/s will help get that coveted buy-in. Either way there do have to be consequences for our actions. I like a documented "pre-work" task/sample (as long as they are on the clock). That shows professionalism.
Thanks for the briefing and your time.
This is a hard one. I'm a retired teacher, and I can attest to the importance of being prepared for important meetings, like state testing prep, active shooter training, and test score data analysis to move our students forward. All of these topics required assigned readings or research. The meetings WERE efficient and effective. So much so, that we were assigned pre-workout for EVERY Wednesday meeting on top of our work for our students and families. It became busy work and we all set our priorities and didn't do the assigned work. Admin even had us turn in something or sign something, but we still didn't do it. While this is a good strategy, the leaders need to assess workload purpose.
I spoke to Chris Dyer in episode 55 of my podcast and he talked about maximising meetings. He's also written about them in his books
I've been toying with the idea of how I can incorporate Jeff Bezo's 'crisp document and a messy meeting' into the way I run meetings with my direct reports and how my team delivers leadership training. I have one simple ask for my folks to do prior to our bi-weekly meetings - Update the project tracker prior to the meeting. Most of the time they don't. Often, I can see them updating it at the start of the meeting. Rather than continue to get annoyed, I'm thinking about spending the first 10 minutes updating the Tracker together and agenda building. The goal would be to create a shared experience. I've been thinking about doing the same thing for a new first-level leader development program we're getting ready to start - Instead of having people complete an online course prior to the live session (flipped learning model) - instead, I thought of finding a short, thought provoking article to read at the beginning of each live session - I might still include the pre-work course for those motivated self-learners - but at least I can guarantee (almost - someone could fake read) that we're on the same page if we all read it together at the start of the class.
Meeting management is so important if the meeting is going to be effective - why would you accept an invitation to attend a meeting if you didn't know what the meeting was about in terms of objectives and why you have been invited ?