No More Pointless Meetings

From Meetings to “Workflow Management”

Most firms handle their day-to-day business during meetings. Traditional meetings can be time consuming and unproductive. Digital conferencing doesn’t reduce the number of unproductive meetings; it just puts them on new platforms. As the complexity of business increases and response time decreases, firms must make meetings efficient and productive.

Manager Versus Facilitator

Transforming the traditional structure of meetings into workflow management sessions achieves definitive results. The common threads in each session are the use of a facilitator to run the gatherings and the directive to separate content and process. Content, in this context, refers to the focus or purpose of the meeting. Process is the meeting’s logistics – place, seating layout, tone, energy level, and the numbers and types of attendees.

The primary reason traditional meetings are unproductive is that the person officiating is usually the highest-ranking manager present. He or she directs the meeting and participates in discussions. However, meetings actually are more efficient when junior members run them. Participating in content conversations...