Episode 195: Book Review – No Fail Meetings

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Dr. Melissa Smith 0:00
If you want more effective meetings, I’ve got a practical, easy to read book that will help you to do just that.

Hi, I’m Dr. Melissa Smith, welcome to the Pursue What Matters podcast where we focus on what it takes to thrive in love and work. So I’ve got another great book review is the end of the month. And the book I have for you today is super short, super practical, straight to the point it is nuts and bolts, it’s tactics for helping you to have no fail meetings. And so this won’t be a big conceptual book, you know, you’re not going to dig into the philosophy of teams and meetings. This is, Okay, help me have a better, more effective meeting, what do I do? And so hopefully, the podcasts in recent weeks really help you to build the foundation and the rationale for why you really want to have more effective meetings. Because with that, I talked about how we compose our teams, I talked about team purpose, I talked about the unique role of leaders. And so you know, talking about more effective meetings feels like the natural next step in that. And so this is a great book, that, you know, you can really help to craft more effective meetings and agendas. And so the book is no fail meetings, five steps to orchestrate productive meetings, and avoid all the rest. And I really love that because that’s one of the big keys in the book is Do we really need to be having this meeting. So he really helps you to really challenge the amount of meetings you’re having. And I think too many of us are just when we run into some challenge, we’re like, Okay, we’ll just meet and that might not be the best answer. So I love that he challenges that promise, right from the get go.

And so this is by Michael Hyatt. So he’s a New York Times bestselling author, he does a lot in the leadership development area, if you’ve ever come across the full focus journal, or the full focus planner, Michael Hyatt is behind that. So I love my full focus planner is sitting right here next to me, I use it every single day. And so he just he’s so great with business leadership, and especially he’s really great on becoming more efficient and effective and productive. So I really like his focus on that. And that’s certainly what he’s looking at with this book. And so Michael Hyatt has a lot of, you know, he’s he’s got a lot of accolades. And he’s been very successful. He’s written many, many books. He’s the founder and CEO of Michael Hyatt and Company, a leadership development firm, specializing in transformative live events, workshops, and digital and physical planning tools. So he and his team help overwhelmed high achievers, when at work, succeed at life, and lead with confidence. And so that’s just a little bit about him. And then let’s look at some of the praise for Michael Hyatt and some of his other books. So from Tony Robbins, a simple program backed by the best modern research to reach your dreams from Cal Newport, a small, smart, evidence based and often surprising treatise. And so Another review from Seth Godin on one of his other books, a generous book from a man who knows what he’s talking about. And so here is the premise for the book, right? He’s begins with a question, are meetings dragging you down? Now, I’m going to be having a podcast pretty soon on digital exhaustion, and how, how we’ve had an incredible increase in the amount of meetings that we’re having an indeed, that is death by meetings, and that really happened accelerated anyway, as part of the pandemic. And so I’m going to have more to say about this idea of our meetings dragging you down. And so his answer is we meet we meet more now than ever before, American businesses hold more than 11 million meetings every day. And that’s even higher now post pandemic, and most of these meetings are doing more harm than good. That is not what you want. So we need to pay attention to this meetings chop up the week and destroy our focus. They eat up valuable time they’re often poorly organized and mismanage and some are truly pointless. Okay, so listen up. So he says, But meetings are also necessary ambitious goals and initiatives require coordination and collaboration. both onsite and virtual teams must share information plan and problem solve and align. So what’s the answer? And he believes the answer is his book, no fail meetings reveals how leaders and their teams can orchestrate meetings that actually work in five quick and easy steps. You’ll learn why most meetings are a waste of time, you’ll have five key filtering questions to determine if a meeting is even necessary. And you will learn how to decide what meetings you’ll attend and which ones you’ll skip right if you have that power to do that, also how to scout scheduled meetings, so they don’t interrupt your focus time. And then the right format and technology, best practices for running effective meetings 10, annoying meeting behaviors that you can address. And then 12, routine meetings that can power your performance, and help you reach your goals. So this is a really great tip book, right? Like if you need ideas, if you need guidance, this is the book for you. So as I mentioned, it’s a short book, it’s something that you could probably read in a day, I think I read it in a couple of hours. But he starts by having a discussion of why meetings fail. And then he talks about five steps for no fail meetings. And so I’m just going to go through those now. First is decide decide whether you even need to have a meeting, scheduled a meeting. So how do you put it in the calendar, so you’re not destroying team members ability to work and to focus three is prepare, develop a clear agenda, assign responsibilities, invite collaboration, so that when you get into that meeting, you can be really effective for is meet? What are the conditions of your meeting? Or what kind of technology platform? How do we communicate with one another on teams, so that we are inviting all the perspectives in the room. So we’re not dominated by, by the extroverts or the noisy folks who always need to have a platform. And that, you know, we don’t lose the voices of maybe some of the quieter team members. And then fifth is a follow up. So we can have a great meeting, and we’re all excited. And then we we drop the thread of that and we don’t close the loop we don’t follow through on assignments. And so follow up is all about accountability, and really making sure that the effective work we’re doing in the meetings isn’t last, the moment we walk out of the meeting, or the moment we end and are our streaming. So just a little bit more on each one of these five steps to no fail meeting.

So the path to transforming your company’s meeting culture starts with five simple steps that make up the heart of the Novell meetings system. So one, decide if the meeting is even necessary. And if so what type and format it should be to schedule the right people at the right time for the right length in the right location. Right, really take the time to consider that three prepare a results driven agenda. I love that. So we’re not talking about status updates, we’re not talking about okay, it’s we’re round robin, that Robin Enos and just getting input from everyone. No, it should be results driven. So there are some meetings, my maybe you don’t hear from everyone, because that’s what the agenda demands for me and engage in a powerful productive conversation that moves the needle for your business and projects. And then five, follow up by reviewing your meeting notes, completing your assigned tasks, and holding others accountable for theirs. And so I’ve got to tell you, this is certainly an approach that I have been trying to use over the past several years, I think it’s really effective. It’s not that hard to look at, it just requires a little bit of discipline on the front end. And then, you know, vigilance about sticking with it. And so you know, whether you choose this approach or another, the fact that you’re thinking about it, and you know, tying your team and tying yourself to a process will make it much more likely that you will be effective. And so this is one option to consider.

So again, it’s no fail meetings by Michael Hyatt, it’s very easy to get. I’ll include a link to some of his information and also to the book. Of course, every week with the podcast. My goal is to help you pursue what matters by strengthening your confidence to lead by helping you to lead with clarity. Where are you going? And why does it matter leading with curiosity, so self awareness and self reflection, and then leading and building a community and today with this book review, we’ve really talked about the importance of having a purpose for your meetings, and then also strengthening the effectiveness of your team. So of course leading and building a community. And so I hope you will consider taking a look at this book, again is practical. I found it really helpful.

So head on over to my website to check out the show notes with the resources for this episode at www.drmelissasmith.com/195-nofailmeetings. One more time. That’s www.drmelissasmith.com/195-nofailmeetings. And, you know, I will link to Michael Hyatt ‘s website and the book. And of course, join me on Instagram @dr.melissasmith if you want to learn more about this great book and the recommendations. In the meantime, I’m Dr. Melissa Smith. Remember love and work, work and love. That’s all there is. Until next time, take good care

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