Would you rather be trapped in a meeting i.e. you are not adding or getting anything out of that meeting but somehow unable to walk out OR be in a meeting that is run efficiently but you do not know the team well and you don't feel comfortable with any of the team members?
Tough choice. I hope you said neither.
I have had multiple discussions lately with employees, leaders, and managers, and these two situations are affecting employees immensely, harming their productivity and wellbeing. As a manager, what can you do to avoid these?
Today I want to share with you a solution for the first problem and I have solutions for you, but first, let me share a case of, well let’s call her Ms. X.
She is a friend I shared co-working space with and every time she left an unproductive meeting, she looked super frustrated, her face would turn red, her fists would be tight, and she would say, “it felt like I was trapped in prison”.
You might be saying, “wow a prison”?
Although that might seem a bit exaggerated, think of the last time you felt trapped in a meeting. A meeting where you were not adding to the conversation, you were not getting much useful information either but did not want to leave or walk out for fear of offending your boss or being rude; so you sat there, more worried about the time you are wasting and anxious about how you will take care of the workload.
This is the story of many people I talk to. Truth is, managers are holding unnecessary meetings and inviting those who may be better off not attending.
The problem is, when meetings are unnecessarily long and sometimes (let's be honest) unnecessary, not only are we trapping our team in the meetings, but we are robbing them of the time they could have been productive, and are therefore adding more to their stress about the work they have yet to find time to complete.
Research done by ADP, People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View, indicates that 67% of workers say they experience stress at work at least once a week, and one in seven (15%) feel stressed every day.
As a manager, not only should you be aware of how you spend your time, but also how you might affect your team’s time and productivity. Great managers guard their productivity and the productivity of the team they lead, and are extra intentional about guarding their team from unnecessary meetings.
However, it is also important that the team feels included and not marginalized. The best thing to do is to give people an option to attend any future meetings if they desire, and to create a safe environment for them to not attend.
Here are two things you can do.
Guard the time and productivity of your team, not only will they love that, but their productivity will soar and so will their well being.
Next time you want to invite the team to a meeting, look at this flow chart shared below to help you determine if you should invite the person you are inviting.
In my next blog, I will share the solution to the second problem I mentioned in the beginning. In the meantime, share with me, have you seen this problem in your organization? Have you tried other strategies that worked?
Do you want me to address a special challenge you are facing as a manager? Share it in the comments.
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