Do Meetings Really Suck?

Communication, Communication, Communication

It can thwart a multitude of problems!

Not Enough Time in the Day?

• Are you frustrated that you cannot seem to get enough uninterrupted work time?
• Do your employees seem to be constantly asking you questions and asking you to solve problems that you know they’ve been trained on OR you know that they could handle making the decision themselves?
• Do you feel constantly barraged by questions that seem unnecessary?

I definitely answered yes to these questions. I’ve experienced this firsthand.

Getting Too Many Interruptions?

I had a marvelous cook who was in charge of the planning, preparation, and making of the breakfasts for our guests at our Boutique Hotel. She and I would oft be working during times when the hotel was relatively quiet. Guests were either out exploring or it was in between check in and check out.

These quiet times were GOLDEN to me. Uninterrupted work time was a gift from God, especially during the busy summer tourist and wedding season.

Know that I loved this woman. Adored her. However, she was driving me bananas. I would be either walking from one place to another or quietly working in my office and she would pepper me with questions seemingly every fifteen minutes while she was at work. It got to the point where I tried to avoid walking into the kitchen to grab my lunch when she was there. That is not a good sign.

Her questions seemed to me to be things she could answer on her own, items she was fully capable of handling. This only made my annoyance with the constant interruptions worse.

It was serendipitous that I was reading a book at the time. It could have been the E-Myth but I’m not 100% certain. Maybe it was the Love Languages book . . .

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There’s a Solution

I read a section on regularly scheduled private meetings and what that did for employees. I had often thought about meetings mostly from the perspective of the boss. I hadn’t given much thought to meetings ‘meeting some need’ for an employee.

Something in that book helped my brain see this “annoyance” by my cook as a problem with a potential fix.

The book talked about one ‘employee need’ as being able to have an uninterrupted, private audience with their supervisor.

Some people simply feel a need, or feel valued, by knowing that they have a scheduled time that’s just for them, with their boss.

I thought, what the heck, I’ll try anything at this point. So, we implemented a 15 minute touch base meeting once a week. Not much time.

Guess what? Yup, it fixed the problem. It was amazing! It did for our relationship and productivity what Windex did for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Who are Meetings for Anyway?

My perspective definitely shifted. I began to see meetings/goal setting/evaluation times (whatever you want to call them) as opportunities for my employees, my team, to have my undivided attention and for them to feel important. They were super important to me. If scheduling them time where they got my undivided attention helped them to realize and feel how important they were, then I was all in.

If regularly scheduled meetings seem daunting and time consuming to you, if adding something to an already booked schedule seems an impossible task, I challenge you to try them out for 6 months and see if your perspective changes.

Resource:

Resource Book for you. This book is a must have for anyone with employees. Meetings Suck It’s a short read with quick easy things your can implement straight away. Click this LINK to purchase.

You don’t have to prepare a dissertation, just shoot out a simple agenda, meet for 10-15 minutes each week or every other week. I’m quite confident you’ll see some positive changes whether it be from your team, your schedule (delegate), or your general stress level. Let me know how it goes!