Innovative Communication: Preventing Meeting-itis

by Faye Newsham, Senior Technical Writer

Where do projects fail? There are many points where failures can occur, but most project killers are related to miscommunication, lack of communication, or lack of direction. How can this be prevented? Email can be effective, but what if you need a group consensus or discussion? Meetings can be hard to set up with ever tightening schedules, widely dispersed staff and limited travel resources, telecommuting workforces, limited meeting space, and competition for every moment of your customer's time. Frankly, they just don't have the time or energy to give us the "face-time" we, as contractors, so desperately want and need. There isn't time to have meetings just for the sake of meetings and sometimes email just isn't enough.so what do we do?

1. Don't have a meeting if it isn't absolutely necessary - consider an alternative.
2. Make the most of the meetings you do have.

With these two thoughts in mind, the meetings you do have will be well attended and highly focused. So what options instead of a meeting do we have? Let's get innovative!

Scenario 1:
Our goal is to gain consensus on a decision from a group of customers spread across the county. how do we do it? Solution 1: Survey says. Think about it, you can provide examples and samples, ask open ended and pointed questions, and record individual responses for later analysis from an online survey. Once you provide a link to the survey, anyone with a browser and internet access can provide you this kind of information and more - at their leisure and discretion. This also gets results from users who don't speak up or typically participate in group meetings. Not only do you avoid the problems of getting the information to and from distant groups, you also keep a record that can be referred back to. Even if the decision makers go against the results of the survey, you've got all that information to draw from later.

Scenario 2:
Our goal is to have the same large group review a product or prototype and approve it. Solution 2: Divide and conquer. Provide each member with a link to the product or prototype and a checklist to review. Your checklist can take the form of a document or another online survey. Each member looks at only a cross-section of the total material, based on something like interest, skill, expertise, or area of responsibility. Your method for feedback can be as simple as an email or as structured as another type of survey. In either case, keep the information in a centralized location and ensure any issues or problems are addressed.

So, we've gathered feedback, used a survey, and done our best to "kill" the extra meetings, but when you absolutely need a meeting, make the most of it.

Scenario 3:
You realize you need a meeting, but you are still faced with the same limitations of time, space, schedules, and distance. Solution 3: Keep them at their desks. More and more customers are investing in online collaboration and computer conferencing tools. Moving beyond the more traditional tools like marker boards and phone conferencing, you can accommodate local and distant attendees by making the best use of the visual and audio tools available. Telecommuters can meet from home, field staff from their hotel or job site, and local staff from their desks. Only a small conference room may be needed for equipment setup and direct participation by a core group. While phone conference attendees can find a meeting that is largely visual hard to participate in, computer conferencing can fill the gap with access to visual presentations, application sharing, and even drawing tools users can see and use. In any case, the goal is to overcome the distance while managing an effective meeting, so if a tool seems to be getting in the way, it probably is. Use the tools that work and leave the others behind; however, give them a fair chance to work and start off right by checking that your collaboration tools are working prior to the start of your meeting and that you are comfortable presenting using the new media.

Avoid unnecessary meetings, make use of new tools, and use alternatives to meetings and you will find that your customers are happy and feel that their time is being efficiently used while you have the information and "face-time" you need!