Have you ever walked into a room, stopped, and asked yourself, “Why did I walk in here?” Imagine spending 70% of your day doing that!
I will never forget this Forbes article that looked at a survey collecting data from hundreds of leaders. The results stated that 70% of the meetings attended were considered a waste of time. In other words, those leaders walked into 70% of their meetings, sat down in that conference room chair, and asked, “Why did I walk in here?”
A meeting is often a waste of time when the executive is unclear on the goal, purpose or desired outcome of the meeting.
As the gatekeeper of your executive's calendar, it is your responsibility to ask the right questions when a meeting is requested and include those details in the calendar invite. Including details in the body of your calendar invites is critical.
Here are some key points that an executive should know before walking into any meeting:
Your goal is to eliminate as many unknowns as possible. Today, take a look at all the meetings on your executive's calendar and ask the question from their perspective, “Why am I here?”.
I will never forget this Forbes article that looked at a survey collecting data from hundreds of leaders. The results stated that 70% of the meetings attended were considered a waste of time. In other words, those leaders walked into 70% of their meetings, sat down in that conference room chair, and asked, “Why did I walk in here?”
A meeting is often a waste of time when the executive is unclear on the goal, purpose or desired outcome of the meeting.
As the gatekeeper of your executive's calendar, it is your responsibility to ask the right questions when a meeting is requested and include those details in the calendar invite. Including details in the body of your calendar invites is critical.
Here are some key points that an executive should know before walking into any meeting:
- What is the purpose of the meeting? (Do they need the executive to make a decision, are they seeking approval, requesting feedback, or is this strictly informational?)
- Who is running the meeting?
- What is being covered?
- Is the executive expected to review information in advance? If so, who is accountable for sending the information to the executive?
Your goal is to eliminate as many unknowns as possible. Today, take a look at all the meetings on your executive's calendar and ask the question from their perspective, “Why am I here?”.