b'THE HR HANDBOOKThe Cost of GatheringMEETINGS MIGHT BEone of the most expensiveThe most common reason to have a meeting is costs of doing business. As a tangible measure, calcu- because you need to combine the collective knowl-late the salary cost for the team members around theedge of the group or you need to achieve alignment table for your next one hour meeting. That calcula- and commitment of the group. These objectives will tion does not include the opportunity cost of doinghelp determine who should be at your meeting. Who something else, the transition time, the loss of flexiblepossesses the critical knowledge and whose commit-scheduling, and the loss of spirit from sitting throughment is required to achieve the objective? Invite these poor meetings. (What is the cost of a meeting after thepeople. Consider only inviting a representative of a meeting?) This is not to suggest that meetings are notgroup rather than all members. To be informed is ever needed. I would suggest though that many meet- an often-cited reason to attend a meeting. There are JONATHAN SHAVERings are not needed, and that most can be improved.ways to be informed that dont require sitting quietly to is the president andGathering people together has a cost and we shouldwatch others discuss a topic. Thats expensive! When owner of Envisiondo all we can to maximize the return on investment.individuals have played their part, they should leave. Partners LLC.Lets focus just on planning.Others can join when it is their turn. Think of having Experts suggest that meeting planning shouldthree 20-minute meetings rather than one 60-minute take one-third of the time expected for the meeting.meeting. This thinking step will inform the questions to Start by writing an active purpose for the meeting orask or the time required. for your currently desired topics. The purpose shouldAligned with establishing a purpose, the agenda begin with a verb and be specific: is an action plan, not a list of topics to be covered.Identify the problemAgendas should be prepared and shared before thePropose solutionsmeeting. Meetings should have a notetaker and a time- Update on progress keeper. As opposed to information sharing, the major- Build a modelity of a meeting should be information processing.Share learnings Every topic must have a desired outcome (a reason forGenerate new ideas being on the agenda). Start with an easier topic andIntroduce new org structure have fewer rather than more topics. Scheduling theHear disagreements appropriate amount of time is the most difficult stepSummarize conclusions of agenda preparation. Error on too much time ratherTest understanding than too little, and then do all you can to reduce theThen secondly, ask yourself if there is any otherneed for allotted time. Send out the desired outcome option other than bringing everyone into the sameand discussion questions a fair amount of time ahead. space at the same time that could fulfill the objec- Expect members to pre-read and respect those that tive. If the answer is yes, use it! There are many usefulhave. Keep track of time during the discussion and communication channels that dont require gathering.focus members on achieving commitment to the out-Weve discovered that virtual meetings is one way tocome. reduce meeting cost. Asynchronous communicationIf the conclusion within the allotted time is to table has been around longer and is an even better way tothe topic, this can inform future meeting improvement. reduce cost. Think about interoffice text, email, whitePlanning is just the start. Facilitation of dynamic papers, slide decks, virtual presentations, or videogroup conversations should also receive your attention. messages. Repeat this review for each topic that youGiven that meetings are a major expense, we should think needs a meeting. Some topics might be partiallystrive to improve every aspect as we would any other achieved without a meeting, and therefore will reduceprocess in the workplace. Good planning might initially the amount of meeting time needed. Do this with thetake more of your time, but good planning takes less of list above and see if you can reduce the input cost. everyone elses time. SWLATAMSEEDWORLD.COM /9'