By: Christina Nguyen
Have you ever been in a situation at work where it took weeks to finish a project you feel could have wrapped up in days? Why do you think it took so unnecessarily long? There are a million reasons why this happens. For many businesses, one prominent reason is that workplace interactions are scattered, unorganized and uncommunicative. Collaboration isn’t thriving because there are too many pieces that don’t quite fit in the puzzle, such as team members who don’t quite understand their role or who to report to.
Even if a company understands the value of having some team member facetime, it doesn’t mean that the interactions are always efficient. We’ve all heard of (or experienced!) the meetings that could have been emails and the jargon-loaded small talk. While it’s important for your team to interact as much as they can to build that camaraderie, the more work-oriented interactions, such as official project meetings, should be structured to be as efficient as possible. Sometimes this means shaving away meeting minutes that could be used on focused, innovative work.
Here’s some food for thought when it comes to making the most out of the time you have together while reducing inefficiencies:
Clarify everyone’s role.
Even if everyone has a solidified role, it doesn’t mean they understand every bit of their involvement in a specific project. Sometimes, it’s not clear which person is responsible for which task, and thus, some tasks may not be properly accounted for or may be worked on redundantly. This may lead to conflicts later down the road, taking up valuable time that could have been used to move forward with the project.
Have consistent, inclusive check-in meetings.
Instead of a long 3-hour meeting every few days or week, try having daily stand-ups everyday or every other day that are just 30 minutes. Such check-ins establish a set space to discuss expectations, progress, roadblocks and measure performance. To make them even more efficient, set a structure for these meetings that establishes a non-hierarchical way of interacting and an open forum for inclusive discussion. Remember, stand-ups aren’t the place for solving problems, they’re an opportunity to share information.
Make sure you have a psychologically safe, inclusive environment.
Sometimes you won’t identify an inefficient communication process until someone else points it out. But, for people to freely air out their grievances, they need to feel safe to do so without fear of retaliation. Do your team members feel valued and heard enough to raise their concerns? This is a crucial foundation for everything else we’ve shared in this article.
Actively work towards shorter meetings if needed.
Are there any meetings you feel could be shorter or translated into an email? Ask your present team members if they’re feeling the same way, then decide whether you should actively work to reduce the duration of these meetings. This could happen through establishing a clearer agenda, using meeting tools, having more people take notes or other processes that more efficiently manage meetings.
This could include measures for handling people who talk too long or just establishing clearer methods of communication as to not drag questioning on too long. This will help you cut down on time so your staff can go back to moving your projects forward.
What are some strategies you use to keep workplace communication concise but effective? How can you shorten long meetings?
Let us know in the comments below!
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