Kill the Time Vampire

Day 97 – It is my only full day in the office for two weeks and it seriously looks like the scheduling beast vomited all over my calendar. Meetings and conference calls are time vampires. They suck all the time out of your day, leaving you dead in search of more time to suck.

Here are a few rules I use for conference calls and meetings (from now on referred to as c/m:

Always have an agenda and stick to it. Unless its a brainstorm, all c/m should have a specific purpose. Develop the agenda before and send it around to all participants so that they’ve had time to review. When you first begin the c/m state the purpose so that everyone is clear what the goal is. Then knock out the agenda one-by-one without wavering from it.

Have the fewest number of people possible participating. It is a common mistake to have as many people involved in c/m as possible to loop everyone in. Remember, time is money. 10 people involved in a 30 minute c/m is not 30 minutes of productivity lost. It’s 10 x 30 minutes lost. You just lost 5 full hours of manpower.

Never go more than 15 minutes. Make sure you have a set end time for the c/m and do not go over it. Anything else gives permission for people to screw around and run their mouths. If you have too much to cram into 15 minutes, you are probably trying to tackle too many issues and too many goals. Try to split the c/m up into two or three c/m. Sure, you are increasing the number of c/m, and getting schedules coordinated is always a pain in the arse, but each one will be much more productive.

Have a leader. Make sure someone is in control of the call who can keep the conversation on track. This person must have enough of a backbone to shut people up.

No computers or phones. This is a biggie because I’ve found its the single reason for c/m going too long. Keep it to notepads, pens and whiteboards. Make sure everyone is paying full attention.

Have someone responsible for notes and send them around after the c/m. Followup is a major problem with c/m. “I’m supposed to do what? No one told me that. I thought Debbie was doing that.” Followup notes will make sure everyone knows what is going on.

Back to work. Have a great Wednesday.

- Wesley Donehue

PS – Travel is also a waste of time, even if it is a short car ride. Meetings are overrated. Start using Skype, Apple Facetime and gotomeeting.com. You will find more time in your day.