Only Necessary Meetings at Nonprofits:

Ah meetings…  

Since companies went remote or hybrid meetings increased to compensate for in-person interactions. Today many workers spend more than 85% of their time in meetings…and as we are seeing more and more now, that negatively affects people’s psychological, physical, and mental well-being. We learned that Zoom fatigue comes from having to make up for non-verbal cues we would rely on when talking to someone in person. But even when in-person many companies end up having too many and/or lengthy meetings.

Meetings that keep the staff from actually getting any work done. Some people like to think they can “multitask” but research has shown you can’t really focus on more than one thing at a time. This is why you have people asking questions that have already been answered, and then you get meeting invites to repeat what was said at the prior meeting for people who weren’t listening because they were sending emails, buying plane tickets, or walking their dogs.

Yes, remote work has been a blessing for many, especially for people who love to travel, parents, and caregivers, but let’s face it remote work isn't for everyone, and not all meetings should be virtual. Of course, if your organization has people in different states, and countries then you will need virtual meetings most of the time. Problems with technology, uncontrollable distractions such as background noise, not having the right equipment, and time zones are all barriers to productivity.

So how can we improve things so we can all work smarter instead of harder?

*Shorter, more focused meetings:

When people feel they have less time, they get to the point, keeping small talk to a minimum and they get better organized.

Common sense, and respect:

A meeting, really? Is the meeting you are thinking of doing really necessary? Could this maybe be resolved with a well-written email or quick (no video) call? What value does this meeting bring to the organization? If your answers are yes, no and a lot of useful things then go for it. Then think about who really needs to be at the meeting, who needs to speak, present and make decisions. People who are just going to execute based on what is decided at the meeting do not necessarily need to be there because for them to be at a 30 min meeting just to be told at the end “you can do that” is not really worth that person’s time, that can be an easily written email or message.

Plan meetings with enough time so that people can organize their calendars, this way you also make sure everybody can attend. Sending meeting invites a day before is disrespectful of people's time and daily lives. So is changing or canceling them at the last minute, if this is absolutely necessary then send a message via text to make sure everybody gets it. Common practices for sending meeting invites range between 5 -15 days before. Don’t organize meetings on a Friday afternoon, it’s just unproductive, and please do not schedule for near/at regular lunchtimes, that is just not right, you don’t want people eating during the meeting and you don’t want hangry staff or board members.

Prepare for meetings,  a.k.a. make an agenda. Steer clear from making an agenda for 350 things; when you try to talk about 10 different clients, topics, goals, or events, things will get out of control. People will zone out because they spend too much time listening to things that really don’t have anything to do with them, it’s harder to keep to-do’s organized and actually get them done afterward. And always double-check that you didn’t include things that have been done already. Even if you have just one topic, client, or event to talk about you will have various things on the list, prioritize, so you have enough time for the most important aspects.

Develop meeting rules, this is especially useful and many times legally necessary for board meetings. Establish a quorum for accountability and decision-making, and determine what would a majority vote mean for your organization or board. Stress that punctuality is VITAL, again, it shows respect towards others and the organization. If possible name a person in charge, someone who is willing and knows how to respectfully manage the conversation so that the agenda gets covered, and everyone stays focused and is heard. Establish preferences for cameras, turned on so that you make sure that they are paying attention to the meeting and not something else, or turned off in specific situations. Remind people to turn off (mute) their microphones when they are not speaking, and do not send emails, texts, or messages while in the meeting, so everybody can focus on the task at hand.

You can even implement “no meetings” days, to get uninterrupted time to get all the work agreed on at the meeting actually done.

Follow-Up: When the meeting is done, you can send the agenda with all the actions and deadlines needed by specific people or departments as a reminder of what happens next.

Remember, time is money, money that could be used for updating your software, creating new helpful programs, and/or a new marketing strategy. And that money probably comes from supporters who believe in your mission, for many of them money is tight and you it to them and most importantly the communities you help to make the best use of your resources.

*You can read more statistics on how meetings changed after 2020 here.

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