How To Make An Unproductive Meeting Productive

I already hate meetings, so there’s no way I’d sit through an unproductive one. lol

So what exactly is an “unproductive meeting”? There are several patterns, but here are the typical ones.

1. A meeting where the purpose isn’t clear
2. A meeting where one person does all the talking
3. A meeting that never goes beyond information sharing
4. A meeting that keeps sliding into rabbit holes or tangents

Good facilitation avoids all of these, of course. But if you find yourself in one of these “typical unproductive meetings,” it means the facilitator is either unclear on the goal or not doing a great job facilitating, and someone needs to step in.

At times like that, people tend to reach for a forbidden move: “let me sum this up.”

What matters in a meeting, first and foremost, is that multiple members exchange opinions and clash in discussion. This goes double if you hold a leading position in the group: you need to be careful not to let your own opinion wrap things up too neatly. I won’t say never do it, but avoid it where you can. Because if your opinion is what wraps things up, the meeting probably didn’t need to happen in the first place. Just say “I’ll Slack you about it later” and disband on the spot.

So what does facilitation that steers things in a productive direction actually look like?

＜Set the frame up front＞

The moment you sense a meeting might be going badly, take control for just the first few seconds. If someone else is acting as facilitator, phrase it as a question to them, and state the meeting’s “premise,” “purpose,” and “goal” as concisely and memorably as possible, in a way anyone can hold onto. Say it even if everyone “probably” already knows it. People forget more than you’d expect, and they’re often not even aware of it.

＜Ruthlessly cut anything that isn’t heading toward the goal＞

Mostly, you should just listen. And take on the role of the one who calls things out. One of the important jobs of that role is bringing the conversation back to the main thread. Icebreakers matter. A bit of pleasant small talk is probably necessary too. But you need to cut that time off sharply. Left alone, it often just goes on forever. Be the one who proactively cuts it off. What matters here is not coming across as cold. Call it a kind of humor. That might not click right away just from hearing it. There’s no one-size-fits-all method, so try it a few times and develop your own style. One method I use is casually asking a question. Something like, “Sorry, there was something I didn’t quite follow from earlier.” This brings the conversation back very naturally. It also makes it easy to convey a soft tone, like “sorry to interrupt when things were getting lively,” so you can use it gently.

＜Don’t flounder for more than 5 minutes＞

Some discussions just don’t reach a conclusion easily. In fact, that happens all the time. How to solve a technical problem, what the next action should be based on verification results, whether to ship at this quality level or spend more time and money improving quality further. Members’ opinions are split, data supporting either side seems equally plausible, and reaching a conclusion is extremely difficult. At times like that, just end the discussion for now.

I make it a rule to give up on anything that doesn’t reach a conclusion after 5 minutes of thinking. Give up on reaching a conclusion, and instead think about what’s missing in order to reach one. Doing that, you should find something, whether it’s information, the opinion of someone with proper expertise, or an additional experiment, that feels like “if only we had that, we could reach a conclusion.” In the actual meeting, propose this at a good moment and steer things toward putting the conclusion on hold for now. What matters is holding it “with a next action already set,” not just holding it open-ended.

＜Be strict about time＞

I often say things like “we’re already past the time by this many minutes.” For example, in a meeting where a conclusion needs to come out in 30 minutes, if explaining the premises takes more than 10 minutes, there won’t be time left for discussion. Also, if 25 minutes have passed with no lead toward a conclusion, there’s a risk you won’t get from “conclusion” to “agreement” in the time remaining. The opposite happens too: once the punchline of the discussion is fully settled, dragging on further wastes a lot of time. In those cases it’s fine to cut it off sharply, but if you want to do it gently, it’s effective to casually make everyone aware of the time. It’s not the most elegant move, but simply muttering something like “oh, it’s already such-and-such time” is easy enough to do.

＜Above all, stay upbeat＞

There’s nothing more pointless than time spent with everyone somberly dwelling on serious content. What creates a productive flow is a productive atmosphere. Above all, act upbeat. Acting upbeat is tiring, but that’s exactly why you should end the meeting early and make sure to take a proper break afterward.

Originally published in Japanese at https://clazytech.com/2021/07/521/. Translated with LLM assistance and reviewed before publication.