If you feel like you’re sitting in too many meetings, the problem may be too many meetings. Or, the problem might be you’re not maximizing the impact you’re delivering in those meetings. Here are some ways you can amplify your impact in any meeting.
If you feel like you’re sitting in too many meetings, the problem may be too many meetings. Or, the problem might be you’re not maximizing the impact you’re delivering in those meetings. Here are some ways you can amplify your impact in any meeting.
Modern Mentor is hosted by Rachel Cooke. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. I’m the founder of Lead Above Noise—a firm specializing in helping leaders and organizations crack their activation codes – finding the simple tweaks to enhance both performance and engagement.
Question for you. Any idea how much time you’re spending in meetings? Well, if you’re not sure, my best guess is two full days per week. At least, according to the Wall Street Journal, that’s where the average is tending to fall.
Meetings have gotten a bad rap. I hear people complaining often that they have no time to actually get their work done because they’re spending all day in meetings.
For me – this sentiment is the real problem. Because meetings should be serving your ability to deliver great work. Not hindering it.
A meeting – in my opinion – should feel like a platform from which you deliver something important. Not just a drain of your time.
But if you’re feeling that drain, then let’s talk about ways you might dial up your impact at however many meetings are calling your name.
1. Go to the right ones
And not the wrong ones. Seriously. I still see way too many people hitting “accept” as soon as the invite hits their inbox. This is where the problem begins.
We all need to be more discerning about where we’re spending our time.
One of the biggest reasons meetings are sucking our souls out through our eyeballs is we’re just sitting in too many that we don’t belong in.
Here’s my suggestion. Do a quick audit of the last 5 (or so) meetings you were in. Here are some signals – in my opinion – to indicate this wasn’t a “right” meeting for you to attend.
o The only real objective of the meeting was for someone to deliver an update (in which case, friends, no one should have been at that meeting that shoulda been an email!)
o There was an objective – but you didn’t actively contribute to it (you only needed to know the outcome)
o There was an objective you contributed to…along with 3 other members of your team who were all essentially playing the same role
Doing some hindsight audits will help you spot signals, in the future, of meetings you just don’t need to be in. So start here.
2. Bring your contribution to the objective
OK. So, understanding the meeting’s objective helps you decide whether or not to go. And you’ve decided it’s a yes. So now, your job is to prepare so you’re ready to serve that objective.
Let’s say the purpose of the meeting is to choose which one – of three – possible versions of the ad campaign will be implemented.
So what role do you need to play in landing the outcome?
Are you on the creative side? Maybe you bring impact by having reviewed each option in detail, and you’ve outlined the criteria you used to cast your vote.
Or are you on the finance side? Maybe your impact comes through ensuring the costs of each option are summarized, transparently, ensuring others can make an educated decision.
Maybe you’re in a leadership role. And your impact will come through facilitating a safe dialog in which every voice gets heard, every vote cast. Introverts and extroverts alike.
Wherever you land, being clear on what you’re there to deliver will help you ensure you speak up in value-adding moments, and stay quiet when it’s time for the value to come from someone else.
We deliver impact not by speaking the most, but in the most appropriate moments.
3. Observe from a distance
I like to tell my clients when I’m running a meeting that my job is to stand outside of the container they’re all in. I’m there to move and guide the conversation – but also to be outside of it. So I can see things others may not – patterns, or the unspoken, or just dynamics between people.
But certainly not every meeting has an external facilitator in the drivers’ seat.
So one way for you to add impact is to step into that role – even just for a moment here or there.
As a participant in the meeting, you have skin in the game. But every now and then, try taking off your participant hat and just observe what’s happening.
If you can spot a pattern, call it out. “Hey team, I’m noticing that’s the third time someone said ‘we need David here to answer that’ – and I’m just wondering, should we stop the meeting here and come back together when he’s available?”
Or maybe you notice that each new idea is met, pretty quickly, with a reason not to pursue it. And you just call it out. “Team, are we really open to ideas? Can we just capture a bunch, without judgment, and then come back and assess them later?”
Sometimes just helping the team see the dynamic they’re creating can deliver huge impact to the overall outcome.
4. Highlight a quiet idea
Some meetings are loud. And raucous and fast-paced. And sometimes things get said quietly, and fly under the radar.
But if you hear a colleague say something compelling, and the room just moves on, be the person who hits pause and calls everyone back.
Sometimes delivering impact comes not from having the idea – but from hearing it. And shining the light on it so others can hear it. As long as the owner of the idea gets the credit (please don’t ever be that guy who just appropriates the thing!) – this is a wonderful way to add value to any conversation.
5. Take something away for yourself
And finally. The host of the meeting (hopefully!) has an objective – and your role in this meeting is to help drive toward it.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an objective of your own.
What would make this meeting personally more valuable to you? Is someone attending the meeting you’ve been wanting to build a relationship with? Use this as a platform for starting a conversation you two can take offline.
Will there be a subject matter expert in the meeting you’ve been wanting to learn from? Soak up the goods they bring.
Have you been wanting to test an idea you’ve been thinking about? Use the meeting as a platform to do so.
Sometimes the biggest impact we can have is on ourselves – on our own needs and goals. As long as this isn’t in conflict with the host’s plan – there’s no shame in having a separate agenda of your own!
So now. Next time you’re staring down a day full of back-to-back-to-backs… I hope there’s something in here that leaves you feeling a little more energized and ready to tackle those meetings with gusto!
Join me next week for another great episode. Until then, visit my website at leadabovenoise.com if your organization is looking to crack its activation code- dialing up performance and engagement. You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find and follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.
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