Meetings that work for everyone

Why meetings go wrong

A meeting asks people to do several hard things at once: listen, process, hold information in mind, read the room, decide when to speak, and remember what was agreed. People differ in how easily they do each of those. Someone with ADHD may find an hour of discussion almost impossible to attend to. An autistic colleague may find the unwritten rules about when to interrupt exhausting. A dyslexic colleague may struggle to take notes and listen at the same time. A quiet, reflective person may never get a word in.

Most badly-run meetings are bad for everyone. They are just worse for some.

Before the meeting

• Have a purpose. If you cannot say what decision or outcome the meeting is for, cancel it.
• Send an agenda, with the questions to be answered, at least a day ahead.
• Send the pre-reading in advance, and do not expect it to be read in the room.
• Invite the people who need to be there, not everyone who might be interested.
• Say how long it will be, and keep to it.

During the meeting

• Start with the purpose and finish with the decisions.
• Chair it. Somebody should be responsible for keeping to the agenda and making sure everyone who wants to speak can.
• Ask for contributions in more than one way. Round the table, in the chat, in writing afterwards. Not everyone thinks fastest out loud.
• Keep it short. Forty-five minutes with a break beats ninety without one.
• Turn cameras off if that helps. For some people, being on camera is a significant drain.
• Make notes visible as you go, so nobody has to choose between listening and writing.

After the meeting

• Send written actions within the day: who, what, by when.
• Allow follow-up in writing. Some of the best contributions come an hour later, from people who needed time to think.

What should you never assume?

• That silence means agreement, or lack of interest.
• That the person who talked most had the most to say.
• That everyone left with the same understanding of what was agreed.
• That a meeting was necessary.

What can managers do?

Pick one regular meeting and change it this week: purpose stated, agenda sent, chaired, short, actions in writing. Ask the team what worked. Then do it to the next one. None of this needs anyone to disclose anything, and all of it makes the team more effective.