To meet or not to meet – make your decision and avoid the meeting
Decisions – they are so easy to make. We make them all the time in our personal life…
- Shall I have my hair cut?
- Shall I get a new car?
- Shall I organise a party for my daughter’s birthday?
These decisions are normally made individually – you might seek advice or talk it over with someone.
But most of the time you have already made your decision and you certainly don’t need to meet at length with a number of people to discuss it further.
So why is it in business, meetings seem to be held for the most inconsequential issues?
Al Pittampalli in his book ‘Read This Before Our Next Meeting’ suggests that there are 3 grades of decision:
- Decisions of no consequence
- Decisions of low consequence
- Decisions of mid to high consequence
He believes decisions of no consequence do not require a meeting – these are decisions that cause little or no impact to your people or your business.
How many meetings do you have in your business where the decision is inconsequential?
As the business owner or manager, you should just make the decision and the action should be implemented immediately.
He believes decisions of low consequence require very little debate, but you may well need to collaborate with your team to ensure you have their support.
These meetings should be about finalising the decision you have already made and generating buy-in, so you can agree follow-on actions.
How many low consequence meetings do you have in your business?
When you go into these meetings have you already made the decision?
If not, then the meeting should not be happening – as it just becomes a discussion.
These meetings should be action and movement orientated.
For low consequence decisions Pittampalli suggests following a meeting process.
Click here to learn what this is and how you can implement it. Then your internal meetings can happen often, quickly and propel your business towards greater success.
