The busyness of business means we are often operating on autopilot or standard operating procedures.  Organising a meeting is a great (bad?) example of this.  If you want to be more productive, generally, start with meetings, and start by asking, “do I need to have a meeting to achieve this outcome?”

Firstly, what is my outcome?  Am I seeking information, opinion, decision.  Am I giving information, opinion, decision? Is there another way to achieve that outcome?  We have already established meetings are a waste of time, so let’s explore alternatives to bringing people together.

Here are some great questions to ask yourself:

• Do I need to bring people into a room?
• Is there another way I can communicate this message?
• Could I simply email the information to people with 3 questions I’d like them to respond with?
• Could I use our internal social media app?
• Would me making 6 x 5 minute phone calls be a more productive use of their time?