Let’s start with the very beginning, which is - What is the Problem we’re trying to solve here?
Here it is:
- Your week is fully packed with meetings. One meeting ends, - another meeting starts. Back-to-back… non-stop … every day. You just have no time to do anything else! Moreover, due to meetings mostly running over, you’re always late for the next one.
All right. Here a PRACTICAL TIP I want to share with you to address the challenge listed above. I use this myself as well as see them used by my Clients with amazing results.
TIP #1: You should leave a 15 min gap between meetings… AND …, a meeting must not be longer than 45 minutes. If there is a need for a longer discussion, - you should schedule another follow up 45 min meeting.
Important: Scheduling another 45 min follow up meeting must be treated as an exception rather than a common practice. If 45 min meeting is not enough to go through the agenda and make necessary decisions, - then you, probably, have a problem with either meeting’s scope, either setting and managing participant’s expectations or you’re not having the right people in the room.
Here is the example to illustrate it from the practical view: - your first meeting can start at 8.15 AM and finish not later than 9 AM (45 min long). Your next meeting must not start earlier than 9.15 AM, so you have a 15-minute gap between meetings to catch up with emails, have a quick chat with someone, grab a coffee, etc.
This simple strategy will allow you to become a much more efficient in terms of not being late to your meetings as well as get much more done in between.
