I spend way too much time talking about meetings, but every time we ask people what sucks about work the answer is "meetings". How do you change your meeting habits? ✅ Be clear about the purpose ✅ Break the 30-minute default ✅ Set dedicated time to just *do* work together Tell me how you frame your meetings in the comments. And get more tips to make meetings effective by watching my conversation with Joe Thomas and Mark Cruth. Full link below ⬇️
In the early days of the pandemic when we all shifted to remote work, I used to send invites for 10- or 15-minute meetings. The objective was to settle something that a long email thread couldn't help with. My colleagues used to laugh at those "lightning calls". Happy to hear that breaking the 30-minute default is now a recommended productivity hack.
The working together in real time approach is really an under used approach that could make a big difference to remote teams. My co coach and I will spend 60-90 mins working on our deck together so that we can then go away and make the changes only we can make async.
I've been working remotely since 2015. Virtual work sessions are so valuable! I have been known to block 2 hours for me and my team where we're sitting "in a chat room" together - no video and muted mics - focusing on work that may or may not impact each other. If a question comes up, we merely un-mute, ask the question, resolve the issue, and then go back on mute to focus again. It's as if we're sitting a cubicle away but we don't have to listen to the typing sounds of our colleague. 😉 I believe these work sessions boost productivity, collaboration, and morale exponentially. For meetings, I send a full agenda and prep materials before-hand, schedule in 15, 20, or 40 minute increments, and then hold to the agenda and time. I lean towards using Human Centered Design workshop techniques to help us stay focused and allow everyone to share. These meetings are so much more productive than the typical 30-60 minute meetings where someone talks and everyone else sits on mute and plays card games.
Audit the habits! 🙌
15-minute meetings can be magic. (Also, bless agendas sent beforehand!)
Question. Did Atlassian invent standups? I found that agile and standups were founded in 2001 where Atlassian was founded in 2002.
Head of the Teamwork Lab @ Atlassian
4mohttps://webinars.atlassian.com/atlassian/Taking-meetings-down-once-and-for-all-with-Loom