Our facilitators have recommended when NOT to meet when it comes to crunch time, vacation time, and down time, but how does lack of time impact your one-on-one time with your direct reports? The typical 30-minute to one-hour check-in can feel like an eternity when you and your staff’s to-do lists are stacked a mile high. When your week is packed, doesn’t it seem like a valid decision to reschedule your one-on-ones so that your team’s focus can be on the doing rather than the meeting?
In an article by Elizabeth Grace Saunders in Harvard Business Review, Saunders writes: “But the costs of not keeping one-on-one meetings — and not running them effectively — are in fact much, much higher in terms of your own time management and productivity. When you don’t commit to specific time with boundaries when you will devote your attention to your direct reports, they need to find other, much less effective ways to connect with you.”
The solution isn’t necessarily to meet less but, rather, to meet right. Making your meetings more effective during crunch time is essential when it comes to overall productivity. The right facilitation techniques can make even your shortest meetings worthwhile and fruitful. Read Saunders’ full article here.
How do you balance your busy weeks with effective meeting time?
