How to Get the Most from a Meeting
Posted February 23rd, 2015
Meetings are part of the working life of almost everyone. They are necessary if people are to work together to help the company achieve its goals. But often, many just see them as a waste of time because they are not planned or run effectively.
That’s why you need to develop your meeting savvy, to learn when to say yes to a meeting, and when to say no.
You have to determine whether the meeting matches your own priorities, and whether you can make a meaningful contribution toward achieving the goals of the meeting. These are the things you need to consider when deciding whether to attend a meeting, and not be sidetracked by feeling that you need to be a team player, and attend the meeting even if you really have little to contribute.
You obviously need to work with others to achieve your goals, but the point of meetings is to make sure you are working with the right people, for the right reason, and at the right time. You need to be sure that the people you are working with have the right skills and resources needed to ensure a successful outcome. You need to avoid those meetings where the goals are not aligned with the skills of the people there, nor aligned with the things that are most important for you to accomplish.
Turning down some meetings may at first ruffle a few feathers, but being more selective, and attending only those meetings where you can bring something significant to the table, will enable everyone to get more done. By being more selective about the meetings you attend, you will make sure that your contributions are important, and that they are consistent.
You won’t simply be attending a meeting because you are available to fill a seat, but because the meeting serves a specific purpose that you can contribute to.
Meetings are a tool to help people solve problems and achieve goals that they cannot achieve alone, and for that reason, they serve a necessary and important function. But all too often, they become an avoidance tactic, a way to evade tackling a hard task that demands creativity, vision or accountability.
So, when you are considering whether it is worthwhile to attend a particular meeting, ask your yourself whether those running the meeting have established a clear purpose and outcome for the gathering, whether the meeting will support your priorities, whether you can make a meaningful contribution toward the success of the meeting, and whether others attending the meeting can help your accomplish goals that you could not achieve alone.
If you’re a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and are looking for work in the IT sector, send your resume to Bayside Solutions, one of the best in the Bay Area. We look forward to hearing from you.
