# The Value of Short Meetings By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2022-11-13 We all have likely attended long meetings in which it seemed every person within a department felt compelled to say something. It is not uncommon for this _something_ to take one of a few forms. One type of response is the amplification of a previous statement. Another type of response is the rehashing of a statement from a previous meeting. Often there is an attempt to one-up those in attendance. Collectively, much that is said in a long meeting simply didn’t need to be said at all. There is another way. When it comes to departmental meetings, there is often value in conducting short meetings rather than longer ones. Short meetings can be highly effective. Informative meetings can be accomplished in under ten minutes. To do this, it is often helpful to send an email out a day before the meeting with any _news_ that needs to be shared. With that email in place, a manager can start the meeting referencing the email and making a few targeted statements as to how that information relates to those within the department. This part of the meeting is the, _what those working in the office need to know_ part. This section of the meeting is followed by the _what do I need to know about what you are doing_ part. Lastly, the meeting can conclude with a summary of where all that was discussed fits into the overall strategy. The key for the manager to be able to execute an effective short meeting is to communicate to those within the department that the point of the meeting is information sharing, not socialization or aggrandizement.   Short meetings hold organizational value. It is an opportunity to get [[together]], provide strategic context, and identify potential areas of concern. When situations warrant, issues identified in a short meeting might become the basis of a longer meeting. The longer meeting can be more targeted in terms of attendance, in which only those directly related to the topic are invited. If time is money, as is often said in business, then improving the efficiency of meetings is a relatively easy way to gain a competitive advantage. #### Related Items [[Meetings]] [[Business]] [[Efficiency]] [[Management]]