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We spend a lot of time in meetings. I don’t know the exact number of hours. I’ve seen statistics ranging from 3 hours a week all the way up to 23 hours a week. Regardless, it’s a lot.
Of course, it feels even longer when the meeting could have just been an email. Or when the person leading the meeting is doing a poor job of it. Organizations should put an emphasis on providing training to people who will be asked to lead a meeting. One of the nicest compliments you can get is “That was an excellent meeting!”.
But I don’t want to talk about leading meetings today. Except from the standpoint that when someone leads a meeting well, it helps with participation. Which is the whole purpose of a meeting. Otherwise, you’re just talking at people.
Participants have a role in the meeting. It could be beneficial to think about how to be a good meeting participant.
Do your prework. Participants should review the meeting agenda and think about those topics that they want to discuss. This isn’t about adding new items to the agenda. (Side note: If you do want to add something, the time to do that is before the meeting starts.) But if there’s something on the agenda that you need to think about or some information you want to gather prior to the meeting … this is the time to do it. Come to the meeting prepared.
If you need something, say something. If you didn’t get an agenda, ask for one. If the agenda mentions materials and you can’t access them, ask. If you need to step away during the meeting, let the meeting leader know. Ideally, it’s best to share this information prior to the meeting so if you need to do some prework (see above) then you have time.
Give the meeting your attention. I’m starting to see this a lot with online meetings. People who are physically at the meeting but mentally might be somewhere else. I understand that stuff comes up and distractions happen. See if there’s a way to put those aside for the meeting. One simple thing could be going “camera off” when you’re dealing with other stuff and then “camera on” when you’re back. True story – I was in a meeting recently where someone took a call during the meeting. And everyone could see it. I know, stuff happens, but I’m not sure it came across the way the participant or presenter wanted it to.
Learn your equipment. This one is specifically for online meetings. We’ve been using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms for some time now. I think there’s a level of expectation that participants know how to mute and unmute themselves. I’m not talking about the occasional “you’re on mute” incident. I’ve seen an increase in people attending meetings while driving, leaving their speaker unmuted, and hearing all the background noise while trying to participate in a meeting.
Take notes! While good meetings produce good meeting minutes, it can be helpful to jot down some notes for context. Maybe the meeting jogged your memory about something you want to research once you’re back at your desk. And if you do remember something personal – like don’t forget to pick up some chicken on the way home – then write yourself a quick reminder and shift focus back to the meeting.
I know this might sound like grumbling and in some cases, it is. But it does make me wonder when business leaders say things like, “We need to all be in the office for better communication.”, how much of that is because of poor meetings – on the part of both the leader and the participant?
Business meetings aren’t going away so we need to make them better. Meeting leaders need to call meetings for the right reasons and conduct good sessions. Participants need to show up and participate at a high level.
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