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Time management «With the work I have and I am trapped in a useless meeting»
The economist Pilar Lloret explains in «30 minute meetings» how to optimize these work appointments to the maximum
If when you are notified of a new meeting at work you snort with carelessness and resignation, something is wrong. These work appointments should be tools to improve our professional work, and many times they end up being just a waste of time.
This situation – much more common than it seems – was what motivated the economist Pilar Lloret, specialized in business and risk analysis, to write «30 minute meetings», a book in which, through clear guidelines and advice, he proposes a way to increase the efficiency of these meetings, thus fulfilling his objective.
We spoke with the author and asked her the keys to stop wasting time and make the most of the meetings that we are forced to attend:
Why is organization so important when planning a meeting?
If we do not have a good planning and organization, the objectives will not be clear, nor the points to be discussed, nor the time available … Therefore, we will uncontrolled duration and we will not meet the expectations of the participants. We may get frustrated and it will be a waste of everyone’s time.
What negative effects can a meeting have that is poorly planned and in which the desired purpose is not achieved?
In addition to the cost in economic terms, attending meetings poorly planned and in which after 90, 60 or 30 minutes no conclusion is reached generates a negative perception and discouragement among attendees. And if this situation continues, it is easy that over time we get stressed thinking “with the job I have and I have to attend a useless meeting.”
It also has a negative effect on the opinion of the participants towards the organizer, who in most cases is usually a boss.
Why is 30 minutes the optimal time for the duration of a meeting?
30 minutes is the challenge that I pose in the book based on my own experience in organizing meetings that work. Evidently there are meetings that will need more time, others in which your objective can be taken even in less, and of course on some occasion the 30 or even 60 minutes of the meeting itself can be replaced by a call or an e-mail, for example.
How does the figure of the decision maker you talk about in the book work?
When we talk about the participants of a 30-minute meeting, it must be clear that the ideal number should not exceed a maximum of five people. And your choice has to be the right one. We can distinguish the figures of the moderator, coordinator, secretary (they can be the same person) and the participants. In principle, decision-making in a meeting of 30 minutes and a maximum of five people is consensual and should not generate conflict.
How should we organize a meeting to make it as efficient as possible?
We can summarize in five points how to organize the meeting as follows. The first would be define the objective and the desired outcome of the meeting. The second, choose the right participants. The third is plan the meeting; Among other things, draw up the agenda, choose the venue, start time and duration and send it along with the key documents of the meeting to those interested in enough time so that they can prepare it.
Fourth, we must take into account the structure design of the meetings, that is, the operating rules and of course how the 30 minutes that the meeting lasts are structured by content. Finally, it is important to make a meeting follow-up. Ensure that all participants are aware of the agreements made and, in the event that any follow-up action has to be carried out, what are the tasks assigned to each one and the execution time