I remember kicking a group of people out of my office after they turned up for a meeting they had scheduled. They arrived with no agenda, nothing to share and no actions to assign.
So, after three or four minutes of dribble, I asked them to leave.
There was also a time I took a phone call from an unknown number (something I rarely do) so I could escape from a mind numbing meeting delving into details that nobody present needed to know or understand. A Doctor Jekyll meeting.
Meeting Mr Hyde
Read more: The Warehouse uses QlikView to analyse sales and customer conversion trends across branches
Then there are the meetings that happen and you leave with your enthusiasm for the project or task amplified to the point you work on it immediately. A Mr Hyde meeting. So what accounts for the difference? Is it just the attitude I take in?
Personally I think there is a single factor that determines the likelihood of a Mr Hyde meeting. I don't mind admitting there are many other matters that influence just how good it will be - clear communication before (and after) the meeting, location, starting (and finishing) on time, organisation (having enough handouts for the participants, etc) among just a few)!
However, at the core of a Mr Hyde meeting there is one single defining feature - the outcome.
I remember kicking a group of people out of my office after they turned up for a meeting they had scheduled. They arrived with no agenda, nothing to share and no actions to assign.
When a meeting has a clear outcome (sharing of information, assigning or tasks, creation of timeline, definition of features), it is more likely to succeed. So before arriving at any meeting I am responsible for, I stop and think about the outcome and make sure I'm clear on what the meeting is all about.
After this, the rest falls into place, it becomes really clear and apparent what is important to include in the agenda, what to communicate before the meeting, what to take to the meeting, etc.
It seems simple now that I have written my ramblings down. I know I will still have to suffer through some pointless meetings, but they will not be, hopefully, the ones I am responsible for.
Mark Bennett (mark_bennett@nzf.salvationarmy.org) is the IT Director at Salvation Army in New Zealand.
Related:
CIO Upfront: 'If this were new, what would you do?'
Stuart Haselden, director of IT services at Victoria University of Wellington, suggests organisations should ask this question when making important decisions.
CIO Upfront: The five competitive forces that shape strategy - an update
Harvard Business School's Michael Porter talks about how his 1979 treatise, which he rewrote in 2008, applies today.
Read more: Mission Critical ICT at St John NZ
Send comments and contributions to CIO Upfront to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz
Follow Divina Paredes on Twitter: @divinap
Follow CIO New Zealand on Twitter:@cio_nz
Sign up for CIO newsletters for regular updates on CIO news, views and events.
Read more: Victoria University of Wellington rolls out IT energy efficiency project for 3700 PCs
Join the CIO New Zealand group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.