INEFFICIENT MEETINGS DEALING WITH BLACK HOLES

Photo: Ridwan Adid Rupon

Farzana Haque often frowns when she sees her schedule. Being a manager of the client service team of an advertising and public relations agency is one hectic job. On top of that, her office hours fly away with numerous meetings she attends. "I have an average of about four meetings a day," she says. "In worst of times, the number had reached as high as ten!"

Her complaint is that many of these meetings are either unnecessary or run very inefficiently. "They're black holes," she comments. If you are to save yourself and your organisation some avoidable money, time and energy, keep these simple ideas in mind.

1. To meet or not to meet
That is the question. "It is inefficient when you call a meeting for something that you could solve easily in a conversation," Farzana opines from her own harsh experience. Before you call a meeting, ask yourself whether you really need one. If someone else has called a meeting which you think is irrelevant, politely decline if possible and ask for a 'mini-meeting'. For example, instead of booking a meeting room at your office to discuss a small issue with a couple of colleagues, get the work done over a cup of coffee at the cafeteria.

2. The perks of this day and age
As a professional living in the twenty first century, you have fantastic, mind-blowing technology at your disposal. Getting from Point A to Point B for a meeting, in the city of Dhaka, is not easy. Instead of fighting through the dire traffic, opt for virtual meetings, using tools like video conferencing. Get most out of applications like Skype and Viber. Get work done through phone calls, for that matter. Of course, there are instances when you must meet in person. But asses when you can avoid that and when you absolutely cannot.

3. Homework
Preparation is vital. Marufa Zafar is a third year BBA student at a private university. She often gets frustrated during meetings with her group members for assignments and projects. "Someone will forget to bring laptop while another will act as if he just landed on Earth, clueless about the assignment or deadline or the course. We spend a lot of time fretting about things that we should have already sorted out," she says. Coming to a meeting prepared saves a lot of time and increases the chance of making it successful .

4. Why are we here?
Now that's an universal, philosophical question! It is also one that you ought to ask in order to make your meeting successful. "Meetings are inefficient when you don't have specific talking points or your talking points are too broad," Farzana points out.
Fix the purpose(s) of the meeting, and the success of your meeting depends whether you are able to achieve that or not. Everybody should have a clear idea why the meeting has been called and what is their role in it. Don't get carried away and fall off-road.

5. Too many cooks
Don't spoil the meeting by inviting too many people. Spare them the annoyance and yourself, the inefficiency.
After all, the efficiency formula is 'output over input, multiplied by hundred'. Efficient meeting is, therefore, one where you achieve the desired output using minimal input.