My dog Freddie has a favorite toy. It is a small, red “Elmo” with an individual “squeaker” in each one of its limbs. Freddie’s mission as a puppy is to remove any sound-making devices from every new toy as fast as possible. Seldom does a squeaker survive more than 48 hours before he proudly declares victory by dropping one of these amputated rubber-like bulbs in my lap like a conquering gladiator.
But this brand of Elmo chew toy has a particularly tough hide, and more importantly, it has four times as many squeakers as any other toy in his collection. He has defeated a handful of Elmos in his two years of puppyhood. But never did he silence one in less than two months.
Elmo is also my favorite character from the Muppet crowd, but for the completely opposite reason. Rather than making noise longer than anyone else, Elmo has the ability to make others go silent.
Several years ago, an outside HR consultant brought an Elmo doll into one of our casino meetings. During our discussions, he threw this doll into the middle of the conference table and shouted, “ELMO”. He went on to explain that anytime a conversation or topic was not productive or going in circles, it was time for someone to declare an E.L.M.O. and toss the doll. Essentially, it was a declaration that the point had been made and it was time go forward: “Enough, Let’s Move On”.
Since then, an Elmo toy has single-handedly rescued more non-productive meetings I’ve been in than I can count. Apparently, there should be a lot more Elmos in this world, since meetings in general are not very high on anyone’s popularity list.
A 2015 Wharton School article said, “Meetings have emerged as one of the most universally despised conventions of American work life, and they show no sign of letting up. But if workers and managers alike feel put upon by meetings, experts say it’s not meetings per se that are the culprit. The problem is bad meetings.”
Once the pandemic moved everyone online in 2020, there was hope that meetings would get better. Some of them did, but others got worse. Jielynne Barao, writing for the portal facilitator Convene, praised virtual meetings, but she cautioned, “Unlike face-to-face interactions, virtual meetings lack the full range of non-verbal cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and eye contact. This limitation can hinder participants’ ability to interpret emotions, attitudes, and intentions accurately.”
And surely you all remember that the most-commonly used phrase during the pandemic was not “Have you been vaccinated?” but rather “Are you on mute?” For me, it wasn’t until casinos reopened that I realized that some of the folks I had only met virtually were not really that blurry in person. They just had a cheap camera and poor lighting.
While a quality image can improve any presentation, clearly, whether “face-to-face” or on “Zoom,” “Teams,” “Meet,” “Webex,” “GoTo” or any other platform; the major problem is not the format or the forum. It’s the framework and the content. The Harvard Business Review simplified the issue with a recent story headline that declared, “Stop Wasting People’s Time with Bad Meetings”.
Judging by the volume of online articles and books on the shelf, it seems that bad meetings rank right alongside today’s other HR concerns like Weak Leadership, Harassment, Wrongful Termination and Discrimination.
Just look at the titles of some of the books on the subject:
Or this more ominous one:
Or in simple plain language:
The solution seems obvious: announce that all future meetings will be cancelled! Once the applause dies down (and reality sets in), you’ll realize that frequent good meetings are worthwhile and productive, just not any bad ones.
What can you do to improve your meetings? Here are a dozen random suggestions lifted from four books and six online articles, supplemented with a few personal “experienced old guy” comments:
- Up to half of the content of meetings is either not relevant to participants or could be delivered more simply outside a meeting. Think about this when designing your agenda.
- Strong relationships form the foundation of any workspace, and team meetings are the perfect place to strengthen these ties of kinship.
- Good meetings are rare, but you know when you’re attending one. The schedule and purpose are clear, participants are prepared, conversation is dynamic, and the meeting ends promptly, with next steps defined and confirmed among all participants.
- Avoid an overreaction that can linger in peoples’ memories and erase many of your positive contributions As Abraham Lincoln said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
- Up to 40% of meeting time is spent sharing information that could be delivered before the meeting.
- To ensure a successful virtual meeting, it’s essential to create a well-structured agenda with clear objectives. Test the technical setup beforehand to avoid interruptions (an investment in a quality camera, decent lighting and a good mic is critical).
- State a timeframe at the beginning of the meeting and stick to it, with few exceptions. “The best thing for my creative process is a deadline.” — Jeff MacNelly
- Team meetings are effective because they allow members to provide safe feedback and receive acknowledgment for their work. Research shows that 67% of the employees who received positive feedback became more involved in their work. “Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.” – Sam Walton
- Be explicit about what you’d like to achieve, using statements like, “I’d like this meeting to move us closer to…” and, “We have an important decision to make in relation to…”
- Make eye contact with all speakers, pay attention and take notes to review after the meeting.
- “A meeting is a place where you take minutes and throw away hours.”
- You may also want to consider buying a small Elmo toy to bring to meetings. Many people will keep their talking points brief if they see Elmo sitting in the middle of the conference table. When used correctly, E.L.M.O. is a simple, good-natured way of curtailing certain bad meeting etiquette.
I have several slightly used Elmos with the squeakers removed that you can borrow. Let’s call a meeting to discuss the logistics.
