Shorten meetings by 5 min? How can that be more productive? This concept may seem counter-intuitive but I think you will agree with me once you finish reading this post. Have you noticed that our jobs now are full of meetings? My meetings can run from 8am to 4pm with maybe one or two 30 min break in the middle. This leaves very little time to think, plan, or work.
What’s Wrong with Back to Back Meetings?
Besides being extremely tiring, back to back meetings leaves you no time to
- think about what just happened in the last meeting
- how you may want to approach the next meeting
- take a health break
- return to calm if the last meeting was frustrating or contentious
All of these means you are less and less effective as the day goes on. There is no recharge of your mind or a space to calm any upset emotions.
Try Shorten Meetings by 5 min
You may say, “wait, how can I shorten my meeting if most of my meetings run over today?” I will get to that. Even notice why the meetings run over? Consider this.
Potential reason 1: half of the attendees are late to the meeting because the previous one ran over or they had to go to the bathroom. Even if you started the meeting on time, you likely need to re-do the intro once everyone joins.
Potential reason 2: you didn’t have time to prepare a good approach. By winging it, it’s easy to get side-tracked yourself or by others. People can get long winded and you may too tired from the previous meeting to think of a way to re-focus them.
Potential reason 3: you and others are not actively listening well. Back to back meetings are tiring. Once you and others had a few in the morning, all of you are less than 100% focused. You may still be thinking about the previous meeting.
There are probably more reasons but you get my point.
Why Shorten Meetings by 5 min
If you have a 30 min meeting or a 60 meeting, start it at x:05 or x:35 instead. This gives you a chance to note down to-dos from the last meeting, get up and take a break, and/or think about the next meeting and how you want to lead it.
You also give the gift the time to your attendees. Imagine how thankful people are to be in back to back meetings and then for yours, they are given a break before it starts. Likely people will come to the meeting, a little happier, a little more focused, and a little more recharged.
How to Automatically Start Meeting 5 min Later
You can automate this in Outlook. Just Go to Outlook Options -> Calendar Options. See below how to set it up. 🙂
Am I Allowed to Do This?
I don’t think there is any company who have specific rules on this. So YES, you can shorten meeting by 5 min and not break any published rules. In fact, there is a new trend to shorten meetings by 5 min. If you google this topic, you will find many more articles and tips.
Perhaps start with a few meetings like this vs all your meetings to see how you like it. You can even note it in the meeting invite with the following:
Note: I am intentionally starting this meeting 5 min late to give everyone a chance to take a health break. 🙂
Some people may still show up on the hour even if you say x:05 start, as they may not have realized it start 5 min later. People may even text you to find out if you are coming. You can nicely point out the start time and reiterate that you did it intentionally to give folks time to take a small break or finish their previous meetings.
What will My Colleagues and Leaders Think
I actually learned this tip from a colleague. He started doing it and I really appreciated it as it gave me a breather between meetings. Your colleague may very well love you for it and start doing it themselves. As long as you still get your work done, the reaction will be positive.
You can almost always finish in 25 min what you originally did in 30 min. You will also appear to others as being more efficient and innovative at meeting management. Everyone today have meeting fatigue and zoom fatigue. Not only can this help you become more productive, but will also build your reputation as a leader with your colleagues and senior leadership.
At the End of the Day…
You know your work situation best and also which meetings may be the best one to try this first. Give it a try. I think you will love it!
Your comments: I would love to hear your experience with this. If you plan to try it, let me know how it goes. If you don’t want to do this, please share why you don’t think this will work for you?
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Lei