The Bad Meeting Checklist
Sometimes the best way to understand what to do, is to understand first what not to do.
Here is a quick meeting tip. It’s called a bad meeting checklist.
I know you have had bad meetings. We have all have. Meetings where we do not feel engaged. Meetings where we check out.
Now, think about the worst meeting you have ever been in. I’m talking about the absolute worst. Where someone was wasting your time. Think about this. Because this tip is about getting to great meetings. And this is where the bad meeting checklist comes in. It is all about enshrining what a bad meeting looks like. It is about creating a checklist of everything you need to do to ensure a bad meeting occurs every time.
So here you go…
With your team, ask them what are the bad behaviors that lead to bad meeting.
Maybe the meetings always run late…
Maybe the host always invites too many people
Maybe there never is an agenda.
And maybe there is always a bully. Someone who dominates the discussion. Always speaks over others. Never listen. Holds people captive with their authority and position. Someone who likes only their ideas. Sees everyone else as inferior. Discourages different viewpoints. Someone who acts on instinct alone – with limited thoughts of what others see.
Capture all your team’s ideas and when your done you have a bad meeting checklist. A list to ensure you never have a good meeting again. A list to discourage anyone from ever attending.
Now this is a tip about getting to great meetings. So how do you go forward from this bad meeting checklist? How do you get to great meetings? It’s simple.
Take the bad meeting checklist and flip it. Do the opposite of what is on the list.
Group-wide, enshrine the bad meeting checklist. Give everyone on your team a copy and you have a roadmap to avoid the pitfalls of bad meetings. And you have a list to call upon when the bad behaviors show up.
Soon you may find others modeling their meetings after yours.
So, check in with your checklist before and during your next meeting.
Start with a bad meeting checklist to identify what you NEED TO NOT DO for amazing meetings