Unproductive Meetings Dilute your Credibility, Relationships, and Impact

I read this fascinating LinkedIn post about [Reportedly] Elon Musk sending an email to the staff at Tesla with his 6 rules for productivity. From suggestions to avoid large meetings to leave a meeting if you’re not contributing, forgetting the chain of command, focusing on being more clear versus clever, ditching frequent meetings, and using common sense, they all struck me as incredibly productive and focused recommendations. After all, how often do all of us sit through unproductive meetings?

Then it dawned on me - unproductive meetings also tend to dilute your credibility, relationships, and material impact - in your own growth, contributions to your team, and value-creation in your organization.

My goal for our small team, and certainly what I’m coaching my clients to consider in 2024, is to commit to fewer yet more impactful meetings. Here are a few relationship-centric considerations:

1. Before scheduling or agreeing to a meeting, ask:

   1. What is the one question we need to address?

   2. Should we meet in person, or is it best to address this through other channels (efficiently/effectively/quickly)

   3. Am I the person to address this/attend?

2. Move with a purpose and a sense of urgency!

   1. 15-min updates are brilliant

   2. 30-minute meetings are brief

   3. 45-min discussions will more than suffice
      

3. If you don't need to know, ask others not to include you.

   1. Let's stop cc'ing all, replying back to all, and wasting everyone's time with "OK, thanks!" "No, no. Thank you."

   2. UNSUBSCRIBE!
      

4. Ideal if you connect 1x1 in advance of a medium-sized group with relationships you don't have, for a brief hello, better understand their desired outcomes, and give them a chance to get to know you better.
   

5. Follow-through is a process. Follow-up is a transaction. Get in the follow-through business.

It's time to waste fewer cycles and get more ($*!^&*) done! Your relationships deserve the best version of you. Always.

#meetings #fewermeetings #operationalefficiency #relationshipeconomics #relationshipimpact #relationshipresults #relationshipperformance #businessrelationships

David Nour is the author of 12 books translated into eight languages, including best-sellers Relationship Economics®, Co-Create, and Curve Benders. He regularly speaks at corporate meetings, industry association conferences, and academic forums on the intentional, quantifiable, and strategic value of business relationships.
Learn more at NourGroup.com/About.