Meeting to Some Purpose

Ashok Korwar

April 07

The Tragedy

• Meetings are the very essence of most managerial work

• Yet few are productive• Hardly any management thinking has ever gone

into this issue (not even a handful of HBR articles, no course at IIMs..)

• Generally left to non-managerial (therefore limited) process functions (like CMM, QMS etc.)

So…

• Why are meetings so ineffective and even counter-productive?

Possible causes..

• Is it the way they are conducted?• Is it the attitude participants bring to them?

– Do some people feel like uninvolved bystanders?– Do some people feel victimized and afraid to speak?– Too much polite ducking of issues?– Does it merely heighten conflict rather than resolve it?

• Is it the content?– Either inappropriate to the setting or too variable in

content?

• Is it because of what happens (or doesn’t happen) afterwards?

Or, more subtly..

• Different participants in different frames of mind, at any given time

• Different levels and modes of thinking get mixed up..

Anyway..

• How can we fix this problem?

Some thoughts..

• On Content

– And

• On Conduct

Hypothesis: the main problem is:

• There isn’t only one kind of meeting1. Status Review meetings 2. Problem-solving meetings3. Tactical discussions4. Strategic deliberations5. Vision exercises6. Energizing meetings7. Communication cascades

So there isn’t only one set of problems!

Each of these..

• Has its own value

• Needs to be handled differently

• In content, timing, setting, medium and length (duration), and attitude/atmosphere

If we mix them up..

• If we do problem-solving in status meetings: uninvolved members get bored or (worse!) titillated, person involved gets exposed/humiliated in public, will take care to hide problems in future

• If we do tactical thinking in problem-solving meetings, problem won’t get solved, people needed may not be present

• If we do strategic thinking in tactical meetings, tenor and tone of discussion yo-yos from high level to detailed, immediate to long term: participants get confused, run out of time

So..

• Let’s look at each of these ‘meeting types’, both content and conduct

1. Status Meetings

• Aim: – bring everyone onto same page– Give preview, notice, of important events

coming up shortly– Sound early warning signals

1. Status Meetings: Content

• All participants share what they did, what they are going to do

1. Status Meetings: Conduct

• 15 minute ‘standing’ meeting every day – or

• 30 minute con-call every week• Quick round-robin, clarification questions only, no

probing/analysis• Atmosphere must be relaxed, businesslike• Follow up: keep me informed what happens, or:

let’s have a separate problem-solving meeting• Minutes can be brief and must be circulated

immediately (within 6 hours)

2: Problem Resolution meetings

• Content: to solve a specific problem

• Can be triggered by– a status update meeting– A customer complaint– An MIS report– ………..

2: Problem Resolution MeetingsConduct

• Should NEVER be done with bystanders, only with those directly concerned with the problem

• Time: not fixed, whatever it takes to solve problem

• Attitude should be: here is the problem, we know what it is, don’t tell me the problem, tell me the root cause, tell me the solution.

• Atmosphere: intense, serious, probing, relentless.• Follow-up: a set of actions, with milestones and

metrics

3:Tactical DiscussionsContent

• Not strategic

• Goal: solve major and urgent problems facing organization as a whole.

• Choose max 2-3 topics of importance: how shall we improve fulfillment rate, how to control expenses this month, how shall we win this deal

3: Tactical MeetingsConduct

• Participants: by role: such as management committee• Lead presenter should come prepared with presentation• Monthly• Date and time set in advance• Time: fixed within reason: 3 hours max.• Follow-up: a small set of projects (no programs) with

deliverables, milestones and metrics• Minutes must be detailed and circulated within 12 hours• 6 thinking hats can be used to focus discussion

6 Thinking Hats

• By de Bono

• An excellent if artificial-looking device to achieve ‘thinking together’.

• Get everyone to ‘paint landscape together’, not take positions, not hold each other to positions, look at whole picture together.

4: Strategic MeetingsContent

• Goal: to adjust strategy as required• Is Business Plan on track? What are

learnings from the market? Scenario analysis..

• What major processes are creaking under the strain and need rebuilding?

• What major accounts are not growing as they should?

4. Strategic MeetingsConduct

• Once a quarter or As required (adhoc is also ok, strategy need not wait for strategic planning meeting!)

• Full day- as long as it takes. Setting time limits is counter-productive.• Chaired by CEO• All relevant participants, including but not restricted to, management

committee• Choose 2-3 major themes (1 is even better)• Considerable homework to be done in advance • Attitude should be: let’s focus on long-term issues, root cause

analysis, process thinking, program management (as distinct from projects)

• Useful tools: theory of constraints, undesirable effects tree, conflict cloud..

• Follow up: a small number of programs (not projects), new processes.• Minutes can be brief and high-level, circulation restricted.

5:Vision Exercises

• Goal: – To re-examine Theory of Business– To set new direction if necessary– To give new life to old strategies– To build organization, shape values– To build the management team

5: Vision ExercisesConduct

• Must be off-site• Team building, feedback to each other,

expectations from each other – must be integral part

• Out-of-box thinking, radical prescriptions, open dialogue must be the norm

• Undiscussables must be surfaced through dialogue process (ref. Argyris)

• Atmosphere of open-ness, no repercussions, no hierarchy..

• Minutes are not important, need not even be kept.

6. Energizing Meetings

• Goal: to motivate the troops

• Content: forward looking, simple and focused– What we have achieved, why we are great, why

the future is bright..

• Conduct: short, highly energetic presentations, music and entertainment

7: Communication Cascade

• Goal: to communicate some important message about the company to all levels

• Content: very important, business or organization critical

• Conduct: to control transmission loss, ppt must be standardized, elaborate FAQs worked out, at least one senior person from outside the unit must co-lead

• To be held whenever necessary, not more than once or twice a year