Creating Inclusive Meetings Post-Covid: 6 Things You’ll Want To Remember
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
At the time of writing this article, I have to tell you that I'm literally on Cloud 9. Well, I guess, since I'm not sitting on a gigantic cloud at the moment, I can't literally be "On Cloud 9," but I'm pretty excited! Why – might you ask? For the second time in three weeks, a LinkedIn editor has reached out to ask my opinion on a specific topic. In my last blog post, I shared with you that I've been a LinkedIn enthusiast for quite some time, so any chance I get to feel like I'm on Team LinkedIn is one that I'm taking. Anyhoo – I digress. To the matter at hand, meetings.
First, a question - Did you know that Microsoft Office 365 has an app called "My Analytics?" If not, I encourage you to check and see if your organization has this app and if so, check out the section titled "Wellbeing." I share this information not to promote Microsoft or any particular platform but instead to provide you with a perspective on how you spend your time. In my "Wellbeing" summary, I can see that I spend 63% of my time in meetings. That means if I work 50 hours a week, 31 of those hours are in meetings! In another section of the app titled, "Collaboration," I can see how well attended the meetings are (58% on average), if I'm e-mailing during those meetings (only 16% of the time – yay me!), if I was double-booked, etc. It also shares research information. As an example, according to Microsoft 365, "Research shows – Every person added to the meeting group over 7 reduces decision effectiveness by 10 percent."
Second, a reflection on today's reality. I frequently connect with a number of my Human Resources peers and business leaders in other organizations. They're all working through critical issues, including; Covid protocols, return-to-work policies, and attracting & keeping talent in today's environment where it’s easier than ever to find a new job, it seems. Those topics are very real challenges, not only in the United States but around the world. However, one issue that looms large over organizations is how to get work done effectively post-Covid. I just shared with you that I spend over 60% of my time in meetings. If I'm a typical employee in terms of how my time is spent, then employers need to ask themselves how do I ensure I am maximizing my employees' time in these meetings?
They need to ask questions like:
Are the meetings more effective in person or virtually?
What if the answer is both? Can I effectively host a meeting where a large part of the team is virtual, and the other part is in person (or vice versa)?
They may even need to think about the content of the meetings:
Is the purpose of the meeting to take action or information sharing?
Who needs to be in each meeting, and who should simply receive a recap?
Does this particular meeting need to last 3 hours, or can it be completed in 2 hours or even 1 hour?
So, given today's reality and how much time employees spend in meetings, what insights can organizations gain? Better yet, what actions can I, as a leader within my company, take to ensure we are maximizing our time in meetings? What are some ways that our teams can maximize meeting effectiveness in a post-Covid world?
Let's start with some post-Covid basics. Now I realize we're not truly "Post-Covid" in much of the world. In some ways, we'll never truly be post-Covid. That said, by "Post-Covid," I mean closer to what life was like pre-Covid, realizing it will never actually be the same. In truth, Covid has altered many things about the workplace that are important to highlight. For example:
Many people will never go back to the job they had before the pandemic. They've evaluated their life goals and have modified how work fits into those goals. They are the busy professional that decided to work at the gymnasium. They are the investment banker that opened up a philanthropic venture. They see a new version of themselves and are seeking to make that version a reality.
Many people don't want to work in offices the way they did prior. This person had a 45-minute commute in traffic and has worked from home for the last year and a half. This is the parent whose child has not been in school in person for most of the year and needs to be at home to ensure they are learning. This is also the parent that doesn't have dedicated childcare in the summer as in the past and needs to play the role of the daycare provider.
It’s the supervisor that looks at their team and realizes that the lines between home and work were always blurred. But Covid has exposed the idea of them being separate as categorically false.
With this backdrop and perspective, I want to explore ways of making meetings more effective. In many ways, I think of this challenge as I do an organization seeking to create a Diversity and Inclusion strategy. I will typically reverse the order and start with the "I" or Inclusion. If I get the "I" right, the "D" will follow. As such, I tend to ask myself what actions I can take as a leader during meetings to create an inclusive environment for all participants, be they in-person or virtual?
#1: Create realistic meeting norms and guidelines
How many of you have walked into a meeting (virtually or in-person) a few minutes after the start time and used the words, "Sorry I'm late but…." <enter words or phrase here>? If this is you, then you know you're already starting the meeting feeling guilty. That guilt is a distraction to you at the very beginning of the meeting. As a result, your ability to contribute immediately could be hampered. But I would argue, in most cases, you should feel no guilt. If you're like me, meetings are scheduled back to back. Most of the meetings go right up until the last minute, and many run over. In addition, I'm human, so I require food, coffee, and a bathroom. However, when the top of the hour arrives, and I join 3 minutes after the start of the meeting, I feel a twinge of stress – it nags at me until I offer an apology for items mainly out of my control. Imagine if it was known and shared to all meeting participants that:
Every meeting will end 5 minutes early, or every meeting will start 5 minutes after the official start time.
Every meeting organizer acknowledged that people will come in and out of this meeting, and we're not going to wait for them; instead, we'll send out a recap after to fill them in on any missed contribution.
Some of the team may be on camera; others may choose to be off-camera for various reasons, and that's okay. We respect their right to decide what's appropriate for them.
The point is that there are many expected or implied behaviors that may be causing grief or challenges to the meeting participants. As a leader, meeting organizer, or simply a meeting participant – ensuring that meetings are a safe place is vital to laying an inclusive foundation.
#2: Have a clear agenda AND assume that no one read the pre-read
Let me be the first to tell you that I love pre-reads! You may find that hard to believe, but I'm the person that gets beads of sweat if I have more than a page of e-mails in my inbox. So you can guess I'm a sweaty mess right now, right? For me, it just means that I make the time to take action with every e-mail in my inbox. If someone sends a pre-read, I take the time to review the contents. However, that's MY reality, not everyone's. I know some supervisors that receive hundreds of e-mails every day. They are not able to realistically read every single e-mail in their inbox. So why would I start the meeting asking if everyone has read the pre-read? By doing so, I'm potentially creating a stressful environment for anyone who may not have had the time to preview it. Rather, if I took the first few minutes of the meeting and provided the context included in the pre-read, I could create an environment where people can contribute immediately. Similarly, having an agenda is just good practice and a great way to maximize everyone’s time. It aligns everyone to the expected outcomes, and it also provides an opportunity to adjust the goals based on the team's needs.
#3: Involve the entire team
You may be looking at me and saying, "Duh, no revelation there!" However, you'd be surprised how many team meetings turn into 2-person debates or meetings where only the extroverted or opinionated individuals speak. This can be exacerbated if I have only 1 or 2 people who are virtual, in a different time zone, or have cultural differences that may make it more challenging to be heard or for them to want to speak first. All of this is to say that, if appropriately considered, all of the people invited to the meeting are there because they are either a key stakeholder or key contributor – you would do well to ensure that you are gaining their perspective accordingly. I've seen facilitators start with individuals virtually first (and often) to ensure they can share their point of view. I've seen meetings where a team discussion turned into a heated debate between 2 individuals, and the meeting organizer or facilitator called a "Time Out" to shift the debate to the "Parking Lot." It’s important to recognize the primary objective of the meeting is to utilize the collective brainpower of your meeting participants. These acts of inclusion will help drive the diversity of thought required to solve a problem and ensure the various viewpoints have been considered.
#4: Be honest about in-person meeting requirements
Some meetings are significantly more effective when done in person. There are a number of these types of meetings – e.g., the legal meeting where the documents are only shared in the room for privacy, or the financial meeting that we don't want the numbers to be leaked, or the talent development meeting where we want to ensure that confidence is kept when providing feedback. In these instances and situations like them, in-person may be the most appropriate form of meeting. People may agree or disagree with that summary, but it's good to be transparent around the expectations in either case. Trying to ensure everyone who is remote or can't be in person fits in an in-person meeting can be disruptive and challenging for those not in the room. You may be reading this and thinking, "I can't think of a single situation where everyone has to be in person." If this is you, great, don't create a problem where there isn't one. However, I've already had many conversations where leaders are struggling with how to include remote/virtual participants in a sensitive meeting that should be held in person. Being honest upfront will go a long way toward ensuring effectiveness. Just be sure to share the key insights and action items with those not able to be there.
#5: Provide more than one way to participate
Even the best facilitator can have a difficult time with someone who may be introverted or whose culture may make them hesitant to speak up during a virtual or in-person meeting. The cool thing about virtual technologies today is that they allow multiple options to provide responses or feedback. I've found the "Chat" feature to be an easy way of getting a question asked when more than one person is speaking at a time or if I've had difficulty sharing my thoughts due to the number of people responding. I've also used polls to ask questions and get real-time responses. In many cases, you're also able to make them anonymous. Finally, you can provide questions in advance for participants to think about and answer during the meeting or summarize before the meeting and discuss the results. All of these are relatively simple ways to ensure you include the entire team regardless of where they may sit.
#6: Leave room for small talk
The beauty of working and conducting meetings virtually is that you can host or attend a meeting anywhere in the world. The challenge of not being in person is, well, you're not in person! As such, gone potentially are the days where you can ask how someone's weekend was by the coffee machine or the walk down the hall together and talk about the weather – which is the universal ice breaker! However, all does not have to be lost. Starting the virtual meeting with those same questions, asking how the participants are feeling, discussing the weather and the weekend are excellent ways to connect, especially if those in person can involve those virtually or vice-versa. I've found that the extra time spent in casual conversation helps drive camaraderie.
Summary
And there you have it – 6 ways that I've experienced meeting "inclusion-builders" in a post-Covid world. By taking time to create inclusive meeting guidelines, prepare an agenda, leave room for chit chat, clearly state the type of meeting, realize that humans are in the meetings and may require the occasional bathroom break or hot dog off-camera, and find ways to use the various technologies to involve the entire team – you will be well on your way to creating a meeting that applies to participants wherever they may be sitting.
And, if for some reason that doesn't work, start the meeting after 5 pm and call it "Happy Hour!" For some reason, those meetings seem to be a lot of fun!
Coach Ha-Keem
You're Worth It!
For more tips, check out my book, “You’re Worth It! Navigating Your Career in Corporate America,” or go to my website, CoachHa-Keem.com.
