How Not Having a Meeting Policy Hurts Your Company

Most people hate meetings

Most people hate policies

And double negative makes a positive, so this is the proof that meeting policies are positive.

Sorry for geeking out on you like that.

In reality, not having a meeting policy can hurt your company in quite a few ways if the company is big enough. Here are a few ways you may not have considered:

Talent Retention Problems

In each company I've been a part of, 20% of the employees have consistently shouldered 80% of the workload. These individuals are highly skilled, driven, and passionate about delivering results and overcoming challenges. They possess deep knowledge of the code, platform, or customer base, making them adept at problem-solving. Naturally, meeting organizers seek their presence to ensure comprehensive discussions. However, including them in every meeting without establishing guidelines can lead to burnout. These exceptional individuals are most affected by unproductive meetings, which significantly diminishes their motivation.

Slow Decision Making

Several rules within meeting policies are designed to facilitate efficient decision-making. These rules range from clearly defining the meeting's purpose to ensuring the agenda and materials are adequately prepared. Without a meeting policy in place, there is a risk of fostering a culture where meetings lack a clear purpose, are inadequately prepared to achieve their objectives, or are conducted in an ineffective format. This can lead to situations where meetings fail to produce any meaningful outcomes.

Local Optimizations

The absence of a meeting policy may lead individuals to develop their own local policies and strategies. Employees might seek to safeguard their time in order to concentrate on their responsibilities. They could reserve chunks of time in their schedule daily, and even multiple times a day. Consequently, this practice can result in a heavy calendar load and prompt others to reserve a regular slot just to guarantee the possibility of a discussion if necessary. Before long, everyone's calendar is filled with meetings non-stop from morning till night, making it difficult to schedule urgent discussions, thus fostering a culture of creating conflicts and so forth. A well-crafted meeting policy can diminish the necessity for individual optimizations and ensure that everyone has adequate time to focus on tasks, with meetings scheduled based on genuine requirements.

Time Waste

It's quite evident that not having a meeting policy leads to more wasteful meetings for several reasons:

1. Organizers invite an excessive number of participants

2. Organizers allocate too much time for meetings

3. Meetings often lack preparation

4. Recurring meetings may not have a specified end date

Less Time to Focus on Tasks

Lack of control over the number of meetings scheduled and the attendees invited often results in a heavy meeting schedule. This frequently leads to employees having their calendars packed with meetings, leaving little to no time for completing tasks, following up, or preparing for upcoming meetings.

Conclusion - Meeting Policy is Essential

In the end, the absence of a meeting policy brings about numerous drawbacks, and having meeting policies is a beneficial initial move. Nevertheless, this is just the beginning, as the true value lies in the implementation stage. Without a tool for effectively overseeing and guiding organizers to arrange more productive meetings, it will not suffice.