I was just reading an interview with one of Australia’s chief bankers, Cameron Clyne-the CEO of the National Australia Bank and he highlighted the need for greater speed in business today. ‘If you think about a dealer room, the flow of information is immediate and time-critical; you don’t make appointments.; he notes. He went on to say, ‘no-one asks for a three minute appointment, but there are plenty of two to three minute issues that you have to deal with’ (The Australian, 24/6/09, pg 19).

This made me think of a new way of leading and managing people.

The two minute meeting.

Why not have a relatively formal two-minute time frame where managers meet with their staff? My suggested guidelines are as follows:

- Location can be anywhere

- The leader commits to two minutes of undivided attention on the issue at hand.

- The issue, challenge or decision must be an every-day one (rather than should we invade New zealand for example).

- The decision must be able to be communicated in under one minute and the leader then has at least one minute to decide or suggest a course of action.

- No notice is required of a two minute meeting other than the words-are you free to have a two minute meeting.

- There can be no more than three people at the meeting (no crowds allowed).

The two minute meeting means that you do not have to wait around for days or weeks on something that can be decided on immediately.

Who is willing to give this a go? I am calling for vounteers to trial this new way of working.

Do something in the next two minutes–Ken

 

 1. Adopt Hudson’s Law of Meetings

‘Hudson’s Law of Meetings’ is an adaptation of Parkinson’s Law which states that: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Hudson’s Law suggests that meetings expand to the time set for the meeting. So the first step in designing a better, faster meeting is to simply reduce the meeting time. In the service organisation where we are trialing these ideas we have reduced the meeting time from one hour (the default time) to 45 minutes with no reduction in output. Indeed there is a growing awareness that time is short so people must remain focused. For example, every 15 minutes a dedicated time keeper poses the question to the group that we are one third of the way through the meeting—are we one third of the way through the agenda? This reduction does not sound much but it does mean that you have reduced your collective meeting time by 25%. This time saving enables people to get to the next meeting, make a coffee, answer some emails and prepare for the next meeting and be on time.

2. Keep it Simple

Speed and simplicity have a symbiotic relationship. In trying to go faster you often have to simplify things. In simplifying a process or activity you can go faster. Hence with meetings it is a good idea to develop a standard agenda layout and format that can be used for most meetings. In the service organisation every department and it seems every manager had their own agenda layout. This slowed down comprehension and sometimes led to confusion where people were searching for where to find information and what preparation they had to do.

Every meeting should have an agenda with the purpose and the desired outcomes clearly stated and sent out at least 24 hours before the meeting. In this way the logistics of the meeting (e.g. place, time, location, participants) are confirmed. Much like kids at school where no hats means no play—no agenda means no meeting should take place (unless in an exceptional circumstance).

3. Collectively design some meeting rules and stick to these

One of the best things we did with the team from the service company is that they collectively designed a set of new meeting rules. These are the ‘rules of the game’ that everyone was expected to follow. Because they were created by the team they had a better chance of being followed and reflected the unique culture of that department and organisation. For example, some of the rules they agreed to were:-start every meeting on time (no ifs or buts), no meetings between 12.00pm and 1.30pm and no mobile phones in the meeting or any other electronic devices.

These rules also created peer pressure that made it easier for the person who called the meeting to enforce.

4. Speed Think your way through a few agenda items

In a normal meeting every agenda item is allocated roughly even time. But with a speed meeting you should divide the agenda into those everyday items and the more strategic ones. You can then speed-think the everyday items which will enable you to obtain a result quicker and the meeting will create momentum and energy. It will also free up more time for the more difficult items.

Another effective practice is that after you have made a decision, have two minutes of gut-feel time where anyone at the meeting can voice their intuition. People are now given permission to express what their emotional minds are telling them e.g. ‘I know the numbers don’t add up but my intuition is telling me that there is still a good opportunity here.’ We know that our intuition works ahead of our rational mind and informs all our decisions. A formal ‘gut feel’ time respects and validates this process.

5. Make every meeting also a learning experience

Every meeting should both have a purpose an outcome and ideally be a learning experience. It is a chance for the younger less experienced to learn from the leaders of an organisation and for the leaders themselves to role-model what they expect from others. Meetings reflect the culture of a business. If the culture is open and diverse you would expect the meeting to be conducted in a similar way. If on the other hand, the leadership team adopts an autocratic style this will become very evident in every meeting.

At the service business where we are trying to help some of their team break out of a few sloppy meeting habits we have suggested that the last few minutes of every meeting be allocated to a quick discussion on what worked in the meeting, what did not work and what did we learn and could do better next time. By thinking about meetings as learning opportunities ensures that whatever you decide, no meeting is ever a waste of time.

Running faster, better meetings is an important management and leadership skill that needs to be developed. I believe that every organisation should develop their own way of conducting meetings that reflects it culture, values and priorities and that this should be taught to all aspiring leaders of the future. It will make the business more efficient and productive and the time spent in meetings more enjoyable.

Dr Ken Hudson

What is the most unproductive part of your day? For many business people it is the time they spend in meetings. It makes sense therefore to try and improve the productivity of your meetings and minimize the time you spend in them.
 
Here is one suggestion that we are trialling with an organisation at the moment. Reduce your meeting times from one hour to 45 minutes. It is simple but it seems to work.
 
The one hour time frame is the usual default length of every meeting. And for convenience most meetings are called on the hour. This means that if you have back-to-back meetings you are always running from one meeting to another. If the previous meeting runs over then you often get caught arriving late to the next meeting.
 
The solution? Introduce the 45 minute meeting (maximum time). You spend 25% less time in meetings and it allows you 15 minutes to prepare for the next meeting, physically walk and find the next room, go to the bathroom, make a cup of coffee and catch up on emails. There is also a buffer in case the previous meeting runs late.
 
We have found that the 45 meeting works well when someone keeps a track of the time and highlights every 15 minutes (e.g. one third of the time has elapsed–are you one third through the agenda?). Additionally the meeting seems to flow more easily and what used to take 60 minutes or more can be done in 45 minutes by thinking and working faster.
 
Let me know how it goes.

Dr Ken Hudson
Founder and Chief Starter
The Speed Thinking Zone

In 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson suggested, in a tongue in cheek way, what has since become known as Parkinsons Law. It states:

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

I would like to suggest that this be updated for meetings in what i have called Hudson’s Law of Meetings:

Meetings expand to the time set for the meeting.

Think about it. Have you ever been at a meeting when someone says, well we have the meeting room booked for the next hour why don’t we stay till then. Why should you? If the meeting is over the meeting is over. Why do most of us feel guilty about having a shorter meeting or one that finishes early? In a recent workshop we covered all we had to do and i suggested that we finish early. One person started to complain about this. Why i asked? Why don’t you use the extra time to go to the gym or see your kids or go to a movie?

If Hudson’s rule is valid then we should think seriously about the amount of time we spend in meetings. Why are all our meetings at least one hour? Why aren’t these half an hour?

Imagine how much time you could free up and how more productive and enjoyable your life could be.

Ken Hudson

 

 What is the most frustrating part of a person’s day at work? If a group of managers at a major, international airline is any guide, it is their meetings. I was curious and asked the group exactly what are the problems they encounter with meetings. Their complaints included:

- The meetings are too long

- One person can dominate

- Don’t start on time

- Individual contribution is often not encouraged or valued

- Some managers are too aggressive with the person rather than the issue

- The wrong people are at the meeting.

- People were not prepared and

- The purpose of the meeting was not clear.

So what are we all doing about it? Many managers seem to shrug their shoulders and just accept that this is the way it has always been.

But where are the big, new ideas about meetings? If this activity takes up such a large part of our time why don’t we do something about it? The stand-up meeting is an interesting idea that has proven to shorten meetings but what do we do next?

One suggestion is to introduce the Speed Meeting- a half-hour meeting (maximum) where participants come prepared with their ideas, ready to contribute from the very outset. It is a meeting where all the day-to-day issues are done first. I this way you can make speed decisions with these–this means that people feel better, more is achieved and more time is created to tackle the more strategic issues.

This is just one approach. I am calling for a meeting revolution. Don’t waste your most precious resource (your time) in an unproductive activity.

Who is doing interesting work on meetings?

Ken Hudson

 

I have just finished reading Spark by John J. Ratey and it is a fascinating book.

http://www.johnratey.com/site/default.aspx

Ratey explores the connection between exercise and the brain. He presents a convincing case that exercise not only is good for you physically but mentally. I have been also exploring this connection in my Speed Thinking sessions and have noted that having people doing short, sharp physical activities is not only energising but seems to open people up to new ways of thinking.

This reminded me of a note that a colleague sent to me about his experience with running and problem solving and decision making. I have reproduced below:

‘When I was at Levi Strauss & Co., we had an executive team that were world-class runners … and every day they would run out to the Golden Gate bridge and back. We all learned that if we wanted the undivided attention of some senior executive, we would have to go on the run with them … and be in good enough shape to run and talk (a very tall order). Some of us did that — I did; but we soon learned that there was something else going on that was even more important. We learned that if you framed a problem BEFORE you began to run, then used the time of the run to let it "sink in" and then spent some time right afterward discussing the problem that had been posed, the quality of the decision was far superior to what would have come out of countless meetings. We came to trust those decisions — and they were invariably better.

 

I don’t know if it was the endorphin rush or what … and I have NEVER seen any research on the relationship between problem-solving and big time exercise, but I know it was a rush all the way around. We were in better shape … and so was the company. 

 

So maybe, let’s invent running meetings as well!’

 

So getting off the lounge and exercising can be a wonderful new-year resolution–your body and your brain will love you for it.

 

Ken Hudson

 

According to a recent study conducted by The University of Missouri there is a way to make your meetings shorter without impacting on the quality of the decisions.

The answer?

Take the chairs away. The researchers compared the results from 111 meetings around a specific problem and found that the seated meetings lasted 34% longer. What’s more there was no difference in the decision making outcomes of the group.

In fact, among the standing meeting participants they expressed a greater satisfaction with their meetings.

This study can be found at:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1D6103BF931A15755C0A96F958260

Some of the reasons that a stand up meeting is shorter might be:

- The sheer novelty of doing this

- You do not become too comfortable

- There is some physical motivation to quicken the meeting

- And also according to the Speed Thinking principles a better decision is often made quickly anyway.

Imagine the possibility of freeing up one third of your time. It has to be worth a try!

Ken Hudson

 

People are always complaining about meetings — either their too long or unproductive and when time is short this is very frustrating. So what to do about it?

These are my top tips using a Speed Thinking perspective:

1. Send the agenda out a few days before the meeting with one problem or decision highlighted. Then ask participants to bring along nine different possibilities (ask them to speed think it). If they do not have any thoughts then suggest that they do not come. Using this principle, in the first few minutes, if you have say ten people you will have 90 possibilities.

2. Decide which items on the agenda are strategic or day-to-day. Change the agenda to place all the day to day decisions up front. Then Speed Thinking these. In ten minutes the group will have made five decisions then move on to the strategic decisions. The group will have made some progress and participants will feel better as they tackle the bigger issues.

3. However long your meetings are at the moment –half the time. According to Parkinson’s Law –work expands to fill the time available. It is the same with meetings. Meetings expand to the time you have allocated. Therefore it is better to have half the time as participants will have to think faster, they become more focused, make better decisions and they remain more energized. It is better to have shorter, more regular meetings than the three-four hour marathon.

4. The extension of Parkinson’s Law is Hudson’s Law which states that the meeting slows down to the slowest participant. A slow thinking meeting is frustrating for everyone. You can either try and speedup the slowest member, try a few of the tips i have suggested or don’t invite this person to any future meetings.

5. Have formal gut-feel time in every meeting. This is a formal, dedicated time in every meeting to allow people to use their intuition — particularly after the group has made a decision. Participants are encouraged to express what their ‘gut-feel’ is telling them e.g. ‘i know the number don’t add up but it still feels like their is an opportunity here.’  Giving participants the freedom of using their intuition is valuable because nearly every decision is informed by our emotions and we know from research that our intuition works at a lightning speed –way ahead of our rational mind. This means that our intuition might just stumble on a breakthrough that is not obvious to the rational, logical mind.

6.  Allow everyone to create ideas or solve a problem at once. One of the barriers to meetings is the idea that we must listen to everyone else. This is polite and civil but slows down every meeting which means that a ideas are lost because of this slowing down effect. Much better to give everyone a sticky note pad so that when they have an idea they can write it down immediately and put it on the wall regardless of who is speaking.

. Ideally this is when you need a facilitator that is trained in Speed Thinking Principles.

Give these suggestions a go and send me a note on how it went

 

Ken Hudson

 

 

 

I recently met with Brett Jackson, VP of a fast-growing, Software Development company called Allassian. They have been using a concept called The ‘Stand Up’ Meeting throughout their company and in particular the engineers. I found this a fascinating concept because meetings for too long have been the bane of everyone’s existence and have slowed down progress (or so it seems).

The features of the Stand Up meeting include:

- Typically it is held in the morning around 10.00am. The meeting starts on time there is no waiting for stragglers.

- The aim is usually to obtain an update on a project.

- People are asked at random (by throwing them a football) to comment on what they did yesterday, what they were planning to do today and what might hinder them from achieving this (in this way these barriers are articulated and perhaps someone can help). The ball keeps everyone focused, listening and alert because you never know when it may be your turn.

- The stand up approach ensures that people do not get too comfortable and the business spends less time in unproductive meetings and more time creating value for customers etc.

- Any substantial discussions are then taken off-line (outside the meeting)

- Anyone can attend or observe a meeting (usually the project meeting is 10-12 people).

- Music is played at the start of the session to signify that the meeting is about to commence (different people can choose which music to play).

- Only one person talks at a time (the person with the ball). Usually they have a minute or so to talk.

- There is no leader dominating the meeting.

The benefits of the ‘Stand Up’ Meeting are many. People see the value in meetings because they can find out what is going on and perhaps someone can help them if they need help. Also as the meeting is quick, tight and focused they do not mind going as it frees them up to get on with their work.

It does require (paradoxically) more discipline and preparation by all concerned. Faster meetings can be better ones only if people are ready to go.

Does anyone else have a stand up meeting?

Cheers ken