Meetings: From Wasteful to Successful

Meetings: From Wasteful
to Successful
Cheryl Lee • June 2015

© 2015 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 2015-06-29 Page 1
About the Author – Cheryl Lee
 PMP, PMI-PBA and CBAP Certified
 Highly experienced business analysis
and project management practitioner
and trainer
 Served on IIBA Toronto Chapter
board of directors
 Co-founder and co-chair of PMI-SOC
Business Analysis Community
 Co-author of the soon to be
published book “Effective PM and BA
Role Collaboration” (2015), J. Ross

Agenda
 Impact of ineffective meetings
 Tips to run effective and
engaging meetings
 Advice for meeting goers to
get the most out of a meeting
 Q & A

Impact of Ineffective Meetings

On average, what percentage of the
day do you spend in meetings?
a) 1%-30%
b) 31%-50%
c) >50%
Discussion

Ineffective Meetings Waste Time and Money
More than $37 billion
per year is spent on
unproductive meetings
More than 25 million
meetings per day in the
U.S.
Middle managers spend
35% of their time in
meetings
Upper management
spends 50% of their
time in meetings
More than 67% of
meetings are
considered a waste of
time

Time Spent in Meetings Increasing Year over Year

What are some of the culprits of
unproductive meetings?
Discussion

Causes of Unproductive Meetings - #1
92% admitted to multitasking during a meeting
41% admitted to multitasking “often” or “all the time”
69% admitted to checking email
49% admitted to doing other, unrelated work

Causes of Unproductive Meetings - #2 and #3
#2 Remote participants
are not engaged
#3 Lack of planning and
structure

Tips to run Effective and Engaging Meetings

Avoid Serial Meetings
Meetings give the
Perception of
Progression
Ask yourself the following before scheduling the next meeting:
Is a meeting really necessary?
Explore other options requiring less time from participants – independent research, targeted interviews

Avoid Meetings for the Sake of Meeting – Status Meetings
Average time spent per week preparing for
a status meeting
1. Use the time for forward thinking instead of focusing on the past
• Do not waste time summarizing the status report, use the time to discuss any challenges or
potential risks and elicit ideas to solve for them
2. Conduct your status meeting more like a scrum meeting regardless of methodology used
• Keep the meeting short/stand-up meetings
• Have each team member answer the 3 key questions:
1. What did you do yesterday (or last week)?
2. What will you do today (or this week)?
3. Are there any impediments in your way?

Take the time to Plan
Tips for preparation:
1. Block time off in your calendar for the prep work
2. Prepare any supporting documents ahead of time – never show up with a blank piece of paper
• Document analysis – reviewing any existing documentation
• Pre-alignment interviews
• Observation sessions
3. Include a detailed agenda in the invitation
4. Think about how to make the meeting more engaging and interactive
If you do not have time for proper preparation, then you are not
ready for a meeting – do not waste everyone’s time!
When setting up a meeting, take into consideration the time it takes to prepare for the meeting.
It will likely take more time than the meeting itself.

Ideas to Make the Meeting more Engaging
1. Schedule shorter/stand up meetings
2. Ensure you have the right people invited
• Be clear about who is required vs optional
3. Start and stop on time
4. Stick to the agenda
• Have meeting goals readily available to point to in case the meeting goes off
track
5. Take notes visually - everyone can follow along and see action items

6. Prepare visual models
to disseminate
information
• This will help ensure
everyone is on the
same page

7. Use collaborative games to elicit information
• Get participants to move around the room
• Instead of facilitator documenting everything
participants take ownership
• http://gamestorming.com/
Customer Centric
Affinity Diagram
Why Who How
Carousel

Do you have any experience with
collaborative games?
Discussion

After the Meeting
What Who How
Take the Time to Synthesize
Information Before Scheduling
a Follow Up

Advice for Meeting Goers to get the
Most out of a Meeting

The Average Meeting Goer...
Daydreams
during the
meeting
91%
Falls asleep
during the
meeting
39%
Skips the
meeting
altogether
96%
Multitasks
during the
meeting
92%

The “DO” List
1. DO determine if you are truly required for the meeting
2. DO ask for an agenda if one was not provided
• Ask questions if you are still not sure what the meeting is about to determine
if you are required
3. DO allocate time to complete any necessary pre-work
• Block off time in your calendar to do this or risk having to
schedule a follow up meeting

The “Do NOT” List:
1. Do NOT attend the meeting just in case there is a question for you
2. Do NOT multitask
• If you have time to multitask during the meeting, you probably shouldn’t have
been there in the first place
3. Do NOT hijack the meeting to discuss unrelated topics
• If you have an agenda item, speak to the meeting organizer
ahead of time to see if it is appropriate to be added

Q & A

Twitter
Continue the conversation:
@GKCanada
@BAPMCherylLee

Sources
 https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-
meetings-hint-its-scary
 https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic
 http://gamestorming.com/

Thank You
If you enjoyed this presentation, you might be interested in the following courses:
Making the Most of Your Project Meetings
Excelling at Facilitation
Effective Facilitation for Business Analysts

Meetings: From Wasteful to Successful

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