One of the biggest issues we come across with our clients is people being late to meetings or calls. This is due to a number of factors, with the leading culprit being that the previous meeting ran long (oh don’t they all). And, if you are like so many of our clients - you are on back to back 60-min meetings all day long, to which you are late to most of them and utterly exhausted at the end of the day.
Here is the simple solution that we often share with our clients. But before I jump into this - you might want to believe that it can’t be this simple. To that, I’d invite you simply to consider this as an option. Some of this will assume that you are leading the particular meeting. If you are in a setting where you aren’t leading the meeting - it is a bit different. However, assuming you are leading the meeting - try this:
Think critically about how much time is needed if you have a clear agenda and stick to it - many people book 60-minute meetings that can meet objectives in 30 minutes or less.
Speaking of agendas, BE PREPARED before the meeting with a clear objective, decisions needed, and an agenda. Send ahead of time to the meeting participants - this will also help them be prepared and focused.
Shorten meeting times to create whitespace on the calendar. 60 minute meetings can be 45 minutes. 30 minute meetings can be 25, etc.
Be clear with everyone that the meeting will start and end on time (so if people have important items - bring them up sooner than later).
Invite everyone to be committed to ending the meeting on time (this way everyone gets 15 minutes to transition to their next meeting).
Be okay with tabling certain less important topics and pushing them to a future meeting.
Be clear with people in the meeting what it means to show up on time and prepared.
Start and end the meeting on time. Do not let it morph from 45 minutes into a 60-min meeting. You want to clearly set a precedent.
If you do all of the above, what we have seen with well-run meetings - is that you can get 95-98% accomplished in a well-run 45 minute meeting than a poorly run 60-min meeting.
Enjoy your 15 minute transition time and short mental break before the next meeting. Breaks can be used for a mental recharge, or for sending out meeting notes, action items, etc. immediately after the meeting (while it's still fresh in your mind) - so you're not extending your work day just to circle back to something that took place earlier that morning.
If you are going to be joining a meeting that you aren’t leading, and if you have a time commitment after the meeting - our suggestion is to be clear with the people you are meeting with that 1) You have a commitment after the call 2) That your word/commitment is important to you and 3) You will be leaving the call at a certain time. And then, stick to it. Honor your word.
As you can see, most of the above is based on the idea that your word is really powerful. That when you say you will do something - you do it. I encourage you to honor your word and invite others to do the same. Most of our clients are astounded when they see the results of this come to life. Meetings become more efficient. People have more energy. People feel honored because you respect their time. Etc.
And, if you do the math, it can save a lot of money. If you think about the hourly rates of people on the call, and then give them 25% of their time back each hour - that could save 2+ hours per day that they can now focus on refreshing their mind or getting other things done. If you add all that up, it can at times, depending on the company size, add up to thousands of dollars (or more) per day or per week.