{"id":17232,"date":"2018-12-13T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T15:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=17232"},"modified":"2018-12-13T07:33:08","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T15:33:08","slug":"how-to-balance-meetings-and-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Balance Meetings and Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Too many meetings?<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Along with email volume, the overabundance of meetings is the major complaint of knowledge workers today.<\/p>\n

That said, meetings can be extremely effective and are even critical to getting meaningful work done. It would be an interesting experiment to cancel all meetings and watch what happens. What would we miss? What negative impacts would there be? What opportunities would go unrecognized?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s the purpose?<\/h2>\n

Such an experiment would give us insight into what constitutes a constructive and valuable meeting. Just imagining the experiment reveals the key component of effective meetings: purpose. An essential question to answer at the start of any meeting is, \u201cWhat do we want to accomplish here, and by what time?\u201d If purpose isn\u2019t clear, no one has sufficient criteria by which to frame and monitor the ensuing conversation, nor the information to know whether he or she should participate in it. So, step one, make sure the purpose of each meeting is clear.<\/p>\n

Assuming the purpose of a meeting is clear, the second factor to consider is this: What\u2019s your purpose in being there? What is your job? What are your roles and responsibilities within it? How does the meeting relate to that context? If the meeting truly relates to or involves your responsibilities, step up and play. If it doesn\u2019t, step up and decline.<\/p>\n

Given that many companies strive for collaborative cultures, I know it might seem a brazen act of rebellion and defiance to decline a meeting request. But before you agree to attend, take two minutes to identify the purpose of the meeting and why you\u2019re expected to be there. You can frame such a query as elegantly and politely as, \u201cI like to contribute as best I can in meetings, so it would help me to gain a sense of the desired outcome of the meeting, and whether and how I can serve that outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the meeting\u2019s purpose is clear, it should be clear whether your involvement is necessary. If not, you can gain clarity by further probing. Approach these conversations with the intent of contributing value to meaningful meetings rather than ducking meetings altogether. By seeking clarity and striving to be effective with how you spend your time, you may influence your colleagues to do the same and help your organization expend resources more efficiently.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Best practices for meetings<\/h2>\n

There are many best practices for good meetings, which include having an agenda, having a monitor ensure the agenda is adhered to, keeping track of decisions and next actions (and by whom), granting everyone opportunity to speak, and having sufficient breaks (if the meeting is longer than ninety minutes). But the critical foundation is clear purpose\u2014for the meeting and your role therein.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meetings are indispensable when you don\u2019t want to do anything.<\/em>
\n\u2014J. K. Galbraith<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meetings and Email<\/h2>\n

Ineffective meetings contribute to other ineffective habits, like time-wasting emails. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure what we decided at the project meeting in terms of our go-forward strategy. Could someone clarify that for me?\u201d Ineffective emails contribute to ineffective meetings. \u201cWe need to meet again to clarify what our last meeting was about and who will do what by when.\u201d And the more you permit either behavior, the deeper the quicksand pulls you down.<\/p>\n

If your meetings are not ending with a collective sigh of, \u201cWow. Good meeting!\u201d some course correction is due. Start by clarifying purpose with the intent to effectively contribute value and see what happens.<\/p>\n

\u2013David Allen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter.\u00a0Subscribe for free here<\/a>. For more GTD tips on meetings, check out www.gtdconnect.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Too many meetings? Along with email volume, the overabundance of meetings is the major complaint of knowledge workers today. That said, meetings can be extremely effective and are even critical to getting meaningful work done. It would be an interesting experiment to cancel all meetings and watch what happens. What would we miss? What negative … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “How to Balance Meetings and Work”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1,716,32],"tags":[122,737,792],"class_list":["post-17232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-david-allen","category-featured","category-free-resources","category-productivity-tips","tag-productivity","tag-gtd-for-teams","tag-meetings","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Balance Meetings and Work - Getting Things Done\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Allen shares GTD tips for people who feel like they aren\u2019t getting to their \u201cactual\u201d work because they spend so much time in meetings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Balance Meetings and Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Allen shares GTD tips for people who feel like they aren\u2019t getting to their \u201cactual\u201d work because they spend so much time in meetings.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-13T15:30:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-13T15:33:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/DA-Small.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"296\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"297\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\"},\"headline\":\"How to Balance Meetings and Work\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-13T15:30:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-13T15:33:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\"},\"wordCount\":624,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/DA-Small.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Productivity\",\"GTD for Teams\",\"meetings\"],\"articleSection\":[\"David Allen\",\"Featured\",\"Free Resources\",\"Productivity Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/12\/how-to-balance-meetings-and-work\/\",\"name\":\"How to Balance Meetings and Work - 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