Contra Costa Times P. E1 Feb 4, 1996
Times Job Net, Section E
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So many meetings, so little accomplished.
Some managers wasting up to 70% of day!
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By CATHERINE DRESSLER
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH-You know the scenario. The boss calls the staff together and--
Please, no!--closes the door. The hours tick by, and heads bob as sleep --sweet
sleep--tantalizes the dulled senses.
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It's meeting time!
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone.
As companies push for efficiency and give employees more say, many people are
meeting more and accomplishing less, management experts say.
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"We're having too many meetings called to deal with trivia under the pretense
of collaboration," said Sharon Lippincott, a Pittsburgh-based consultant who is
dedicated to ending the meeting madness.
Many upper-level managers spend 60 percent to 70 percent of their time in
meetings, said Mitchell Nash, a partner of Interaction Associates Inc., a
training and consulting firm based in Cambridge, Mass.
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Waste of Time
Some companies are working hard to cut down on that time. Employees at
companies still in the Dark Age of meetings estimate that about half their
meetings are a waste of time, Nash said.
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"A company could be wasting thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars," he
said.
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Nash said the most common complaints about meetings include:
- The purpose of the meeting is unclear.
- The meeting participants are unprepared.
- Key people absent or late.
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- The conversation veers off track.
- Meeting participants don't discuss issues-they dominate the conversation,
argue or take no part at all.
- Decisions made at the meeting are not followed up on.
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An executive at the Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh may have put
it best when he described meetings in an anonymous survey as "a place where you
keep the minutes and lose the hours."Then there's the sign in a conference room
at the Valley News Dispatch of Tarentum, Pa. that said, "Are you lonely?
Working on your own? Hate making decisions? Hold a meeting!"
"People dread meetings," Nash said.
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But meetings can work, if they're conducted the right way.
Improving productivity
Maria D'Abruzzo, a quality manager for McDonald's Corp. in the Pittsburgh area,
has called many meetings to talk about changes designed to improve
productivity.
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"In any organization in the throes of change ... you tend to meet more because
you're trying to lay the foundation," she said.
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She said planning and organization keep meetings on track. She distributes
agendas before meetings and posts the agenda on a large flip-chart in the
meeting room.
Records track whether decisions made in the meeting are acted on.
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Some meetings, especially large ones or those involving different levels of
management, run best with a facilitator-an outside party whose only role is to
focus on keeping the meeting flowing.
"A facilitator typically understands what the goals of the meeting are and is
involved in the planning." D'Abruzzo said.
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The Software Engineering Institute, a federally funded research and development
center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pitts- burgh, has been working to
improve its meet- ings since 1992, when the institute enlisted Xerox Corp. to
help 300 employees with a number of management problems.
Pete Malpass, a project leader at the institute, teaches new employees
techniques
including conflict resolution and how to offer constructive criticism.
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The training for new employees has been cut from seven to five and a half
hours.
"We practice on ourselves what we preach to others," he said.
Meeting agendas are considered so important that employees are allowed to walk
out of meetings that convene without one. They rarely do walk out, but they
usually insist on putting together an agenda if their leader does not provide
one.
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Every meeting has a leader, a facilitator, a timekeeper and a note taker.
"We were terrible at meetings when I got here three and a half years ago,"
Malpass said. "This is delightful."
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Running bad meetings can be expensive. Lippincott estimates a meeting of eight
people who earn $40,000 a year could cost $320 an hour, including salary and
benefit costs. That's nearly $6 a minute.
As companies tighten belts, executives are forced to justify the costs of
meetings along with all their other expenses.
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David Kliman, a travel manager for Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. in Novato,
estimates the cost and return on investment for major meetings.
"There is constant pressure for anyone in busipess to quantify and qualify
their results," said Kliman, who is president of the Meeting Professionals
International trade association.
Meeting planners are increasingly using technology such as video cameras to
hold meetings without bringing the participants together in the same room.
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Lippincott's book-"Meetings: Do's, Don'ts and Donuts," (more on the donuts
later)-provides guidelines for meeting management:
- State in one or two sentences exactly what you would like your meeting
to accomplish.
- Decide whether a meeting is the best way to accomplish this. If so, dis-
tribute an agenda at least a couple days in advance.
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- Set ground rules to maintain focus, respect and order during the
meeting.
- Take responsibility for the outcome of the meeting. For example, help
keep the discussion on track and help resolve conflicts.
- If your meeting isn't working, try other tools. They could include
brainstorming techniques or computer software that helps you create the
agenda.
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"A meeting is a process that begins when you decide to have one, and it doesn't
end until all the action items are completed," Lippincott said.
Now for the donuts. Snacks-fat-laden or health-conscious, take your pick-add a
nice social dimension to meetings, Lippincott said. But she cautions against
conducting a meeting while people are eating full meals.
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"It's very hard to conduct serious business while people are stuffing their
faces, . she said.