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Don t Wait Until After the Meeting to Start Your Action Items

2016-04-29 09:04:43

Katie Smith Milway

April 28, 2016

Julie was expecting Bruce to arrive at her office in five minutes. He would no

doubt want input on the draft memo he d sent yesterday only she d hadn t found

time to read it yet. She knew he also wanted to discuss partnering with a new

research group that colleagues had already used, but their requests for reviews

on the work had so far gone unanswered. And she was keen to hear how Bruce had

felt about leading a recent workshop, which she d encouraged him to do but been

unable to attend. So goes the manager s punch list for check-ins with direct

reports.

With the clock ticking, what could Julie do? Scan the memo? Follow up with the

colleagues? Watch a video of the workshop on the company intranet or read the

survey feedback?

If this sort of time crunch sounds familiar, you are not alone. It wasn t long

after becoming a manager that I found I had landed on a seemingly endless

treadmill of meetings. I was participating in so many that I barely had time to

prep, let alone tackle the to-do lists I was taking away.

So I decided to try a different approach. What if meetings with one to a few

employees became work sessions in which we could review memos together, Google

up facts to suss out an idea, call colleagues with insight on relevant issues

or bring in those who could benefit from the discussion? We might get through

fewer items, but we d have a much better chance of resolving those we did

address, taking work off everyone s plate.

A shift to what I call just-do-it meetings not only recovers hours and weeks

of professional time to think about higher-level priorities, it can also create

space to be more thoughtful in interactions with direct reports and to build

stronger mentoring relationships with them.

Three tactics can help in the process. They are:

State of play memos: Ask reports to email you a strategic agenda before you

meet, so you can prioritize one or two areas to tackle during the meeting.

Real-time investigation: When all that stands between you and your report

making a decision is a piece of knowledge e.g. a peer s input or publicly

available data find that information during the meeting itself. You may still

need some time to reflect, but in many cases, by removing the barriers, you ll

be able to act.

Visiting hours (or minutes): Invite others who can learn from an agenda item to

join just that part of the meeting

Let s look at Julie s dilemma again through a just do it lens. In the five

minutes before Bruce arrives, she might think about which of the potential

agenda items the memo, the research group or the workshop matters most to the

organization, to her and to Bruce. She decides that the latter is probably

top-of-mind for him; he d been really worried about leading the session. The

memo needs to go out tomorrow so that should also take high priority, but the

decision on the research group is less time-sensitive.

When Bruce arrives, Julie first asks how the workshop went. He confesses that

there were some bumps and expresses interest in some formal training in public

speaking, so Julie fires off an email to HR to see if the company can cover a

course. Next, they go through the memo together, thinking about the audience

and objective and adjusting some language accordingly. With 10 minutes left,

Julie and Bruce also call David, one of the people who has previously worked

with the research group. Luckily, he s at his desk and willing to chat on

speakerphone for a few minutes about the experience. Since his report is

resoundingly positive, Julie gives Bruce the go-ahead to solicit an estimate.

With every to-do already ticked off, she s left with time to consider a board

recommendation, read a competitor s annual report, or start thinking about a

strategic offsite that she needs to plan that is, make progress on big-picture

goals.

If you adopt a just do it mentality, you may be surprised by all that you and

your colleagues, well, just do.

Katie Smith Milway is a partner with The Bridgespan Group in Boston and

coauthor of Finding Leaders for America s Nonprofits.