HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter (HBR Guide Series)

by Harvard Business Review

The compressed, focused coaching session hones the skill of getting to the point quickly, focusing on the most essential elements of a situation, and taking action. The downside? I haven’t seen one yet. Try it yourself. Transition some of your hour-long meetings to 30 minutes. As you do, consider these three steps as a way to make the 30 minutes most powerful: Read what you need to beforehand, and tell everyone else to do the same. Think about your questions and concerns. Decide what’s important to you and what you can let go of. Ask yourself the most important question: What outcome do you want? Decide on the one thing that will make the biggest difference, and spend the 30 minutes on that issue, topic, or opportunity. Get started right on time, no matter who isn’t there, and be bold and disciplined at keeping the conversation on track. Let go of anything that is less critical. Make decisions quickly, even if they are imperfect. Getting traction on a single thing is far more useful than touching on many issues without forward momentum on any. Save at least the last five minutes to summarize what you learned, articulate what was valuable, commit to what you’re going to do as a result of the meeting, and clarify how you’ll assess the success of your next steps. The sign of a great meeting isn’t the meeting itself—it’s what happens after that meeting.