Decline Meeting Requests. Just ask... What did I miss?
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 12/4/2014 1:00:00 AM
Recently, I missed a 4 hour meeting 2 hours from my office. I got a summary from somebody who was there in less than 5 minutes.
One of the biggest complaints people have about work is having to attend meetings. Although I've never personally worked for anybody, I have attended my share of time wasting meetings over the years. Time after time I scratch my head and wonder... what good are they?
Don't get me wrong, I think there are times when a bunch of people simply need to get together to hash out a problem, but in my experience, meetings tend to be consumed by just a few people talking, and the rest wishing they were someplace else.
What I get a kick out of is that there's usually one or two people there who take notes, and more often than not, the entire meeting can be summarized on less than half a sheet of paper.
If a four hour meeting can be summarized into half a page of notes, taken from the essence of one or two speakers, why did everyone else have to be there?
So, if you are invited to a meeting, and you don't have a role, just decline. If anyone asks why, say you've got gas, say whatever, but just find a way to say no. When it's over, just ask what you missed. Most of the time, you didn't miss anything, and whatever you did miss can be relayed to you in a couple of minutes.
This makes you wonder why people try to put together so many people in the first place. If they have something to share with a big group, find a way to say it in 5 minutes or less. Anything longer is just a waste of time.
If the goal is true collaboration, you may discover that simultaneously running several smaller meetings between pairs then bringing the results to the larger group is actually faster and it's proven to generate more original ideas.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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