My last project at McKinsey was a very high-profile one — the client was a vertical CXO at a large global bank. The goal was to flesh out their overall corporate strategy.
So naturally, many bigwigs were involved and because of our collective anxiety, a daily call was set up at 9 am.
For the first few days, people attended the call seriously. But after a week or so, some people would show up while others wouldn’t. And since there was no specific agenda, it soon became directionless and a waste of time.
This is the big danger of recurring meetings. They are set up with the best of intentions (what isn’t?).
But after some time, the momentum is gone, but the meeting isn’t. There is no real agenda or structure and it becomes a drag that everybody hates but nobody wants to kill.
Before you set up a recurring meeting, think 10 times.
9 out of 10 times, a recurring meeting is a really bad idea. And if you need to have one, put an ironclad requirement — someone has to circulate the agenda a day in advance.
There are already too many time-wasters. Let us not add one more.
– Rajan