Reshan and I recently published an article called “Respect Thy Time: How to Stop Calling Meetings that People Hate.”  Yesterday, I read an article with the opposite title but the same intent: “How to Craft Meetings People Love (Really).”  These articles pair really nicely, covering a similar topic from different angles.

In the former article, Reshan and I encourage leaders to define the purpose of their team and then work relentlessly to uncover the best ways to help that team collaborate effectively.  Sometimes that will mean calling a face-to-face meeting, and sometimes that will mean connecting the team through a technology tool (like Trello) to help them work asynchronously.

In the latter article, Eric J. McNulty, Director of Research at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, offers concrete steps and mindsets to help us craft meetings wherein attendees give and receive value, and he offers a great test: “One way to find out if people feel a meeting is worthwhile is to make it optional — and see who shows up.” (The hashtag in the title of this blog comes from his article, too.) 

Though we won’t soon solve the problem of meetings, it’s important that those called to our meetings know that we are grappling constantly with format and function.  We might not always succeed in ensuring that everybody loves our meetings, but we can work to send them a clear message — again and again — that we value their time and talents.