12. Meetings should be powerful, not time wasters
“I wrap up every meeting with a synopsis of what was decided and an action list for each party.”
Vital stats:
- Angel Jones is the founder and CEO of Homecoming Revolution.
- She is a founding member of South Africa Chapter at Entrepreneurs’ Organisation(EO).
We have a three-hour status meeting every Monday morning to brainstorm and strategise. It starts with something called ’In the Flow’, which I learnt from Debbie Goodman at Jackhammer Executive Search.
Each team member has a chance to give feedback on: Yesterday’s best thing; Most interesting thing I learnt last week; What I am grateful for; My random act of kindness; What I’m looking forward to; What’s working well so far; What we could be doing better.
This gives us a barometer of where everyone is personally, it allows everyone to be listened to and heard and allows us to see where we can all improve.
For all other meetings, I use a tool I learnt through EO. I open every call or meeting asking how much time the other party has and what their expectations are, and stating my expectations.
Then I wrap up with a synopsis of what was decided and an action list for each party. It keeps meetings on point and ensures each one results in clear actions and delivery.