Do 15 Minute Meetings Actually Work? – Part 2
A few weeks back, I shared information about the concept of 15-minute meetings. The journalist working on the story asked two additional questions, the answers to which I’ll share with you here.
This was the original topic request about 15-minute meetings:
“A new trend is developing in corporate circles called the ‘15-minute meeting’, which business experts say curbs employee burnout and boosts engagement.
For managers, learning how to plan for and run a shorter, on-the-clock meeting is good business and good career management.
In this article, we’ll lay out the parameters, along with some pros and cons, of a 15-minute meeting culture for managers.”
These are the two additional questions posed regarding 15-minute meetings and my responses:
4. Some companies that use 15-minute meetings cut time by sending more advance information, reducing the number of participants and using bots to organize communication. Are these ideas/moves actually workable? What else can management do to cut meeting times?
Yes, sending more advance information is helpful, if it’s sent far enough in advance to allow time for review, and it’s not a thick dissertation to be studied closely. Bots can organize communication, but will that mean anything if the humans don’t read the communications? You can reduce the number of participants, but the planning and groundwork I mentioned in my prior answers still need to be in place to create a productive meeting – no matter how long or how few people.
Meetings tend to go off the rails because people have questions or want more time for discussion. Encourage asynchronous parking lots for posting ideas, thoughts and questions that can be browsed in preparation for the meeting, as well as make it clear that all team members are welcome to hold out-of-meeting conversations with each other.
- Do you see longer meetings as stressful for managers and team members? Why or why not?
Longer meetings are stressful if there’s no clear objective to begin with and no clear decision or action steps at the end. Meetings don’t need to be kept to 15 minutes in order to be more productive, but there should be rock-solid reasoning for why meetings need to be longer. Fleshing out the detailed agenda (I mentioned in my previous answers) will help with that.
For details on more efficient and effective ways to run your meetings (and your whole workday!), take a look at The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.
