Oh, meeting amnesia.
This isn’t the kind of amnesia that makes you forget to go to a meeting—
No, this is what happens the second the meeting is over, and everyone scurries back to their real work. They forget, instantly, about what happened in the meeting and what follow-up actions they are supposed to take. This all exits the brain completely, only to be remembered about ten minutes before (or five minutes into) the next meeting.
What can we do to combat meeting amnesia?
Create meetings with purpose: what are we to make happen? Be explicit about this.
Align the external parts of the meeting to support this purpose. Choose the who, when, where, and especially how of the meeting carefully.
I know so-and-so is usually invited to meetings like this one, but does he actually need to be here?
I know 4pm is the most convenient time, but that’s right when most people are experiencing the lowest productivity and creativity in their day.
It would be efficient to do it via WebX or conference call, but this topic is so important that I want to be able to be in the same room and read everyone’s signals, to make sure not to miss anything.
And finally, if you want action to result from the meeting, don’t wait until the meeting has already run late to quickly discuss action items. Build in the next steps as you go, set up check-ins and follow-ups, and help the people in the meeting orient themselves towards those actions.
