To see if a meeting is a waste of time, think about the following:
- How much time was spent by people collectively at the meeting or in preparing for it?
- How much did that time cost?
The difference is the net value or cost of the meeting.
To increase the net value you can:
- Achieve the same result with less people
- Find an alternative way to achieve your goals without meeting at all
- If people are travelling to the meeting, can you communicate using technology, and save travelling time?
However, sometimes, if run properly, a meeting is a very good use of your time.
- How much of your week do you spend in meetings?
- How much of that time adds value to the organisation?
- How much interaction occurs as opposed to one-way information transmission?
- How might you communicate effectively whilst spending less time in meetings?