When will I schedule my meetings?
How about I schedule them just before lunch? That’s a good idea. People aren’t stuffed and drowsy, their brains are still in ‘active’ mode, and they aren’t thinking of the long commute home. Also, the meeting has a very clear end time, so it won’t drag on and on, even if you haven’t created an agenda beforehand.
But it isn’t.
For the one thing, meetings DO drag on. So people miss their lunch hour, and start getting cranky, thinking about nothing but shutting up Johns from Sales so they can go and get something to eat before they have to go on developing code, updating the CRM or re-designing the website.
For another, if you are in a company with more than just you, people will constantly be putting their head around the door, asking you if you want to order, telling someone else that the special today isn’t spaghetti bolognaise like he thought, and would he like to have the veggie lasagne instead – in short, a non-stop string of interruptions.
So I know, I’ll schedule them DURING lunch. People can talk and eat at the same time, we aren’t children, and this way we save time and money by spending the hour talking about serious work stuff, instead about how the Lakers have the worst opening since like, ever, while the Knicks have the best since about the same time.
Don’t do this.
First of all, lunch is lunch. It’s where you unwind, talk about non-related work issues (although they always tend to come up), and basically kick back. Having the ‘new product feature review’ meeting just doesn’t work. You’re annoying people who believe (quite rightly) that they should be able to eat lunch in peace and quiet.
Second of all, we can’t multitask. And I’m not even talking about mental multitasking, I’m talking about practical multitasking. Have you tried eating and writing down notes at the same time? Can’t be done. And you’re trying to eat (because it’s lunch). So you’ll miss writing down important information and decisions, and you won’t be the only one. What benefit does the meeting have if no one remembers what went on as soon as it’s over?
That’s right, none. Without some sort of written record, meetings are pretty much worthless.
OK, I realise that scheduling a meeting before and during lunch won’t work, so I’ll just schedule one for just AFTER lunch. What can be wrong with that?
Everything.
People don’t all leave on the same time for lunch. They might not like eating with one another, prefer different restaurants or even not be ABLE to leave at the same time. So they won’t get back on time together either. Also, when people come back from eating lunch, it takes them a few minutes to focus back on work again. Some need a quiet coffee and smoke, some need to catch up on their email – getting back to work takes time.
Scheduling a meeting right after lunch (and by that, you usually mean YOUR lunchtime) means that some people will have to cut their lunch short, which doesn’t win you any brownie points, and it makes the meeting less effective.
So just don’t. Schedule meetings half an hour after lunch time, or to end half an hour before – meetings around lunch just don’t work.