Whether you work at a startup or startup-turned-massive-corporation like Facebook, poorly run meetings can crush productivity and yield little to no results.
In a recent Quora post, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that CEO Mark Zuckerberg “has done a really good job improving the efficiency of meetings at Facebook this year” with two simple but transformative changes:
1. Send relevant materials in advance to those who will be attending.
If team managers want to discuss data that doesn’t need to be confined to a conference room, then it’s in their favor to not dedicate a portion of the meeting for employees to catch up at their own pace.
2. Set a goal at the start of the meeting.
Meetings that stretch on for too long typically lack a purpose or agenda. Zuckerberg got managers to announce each meeting’s intention from the outset. It starts with the question, “are we in the room to make a decision or to have a discussion?” Sandberg writes.
Sandberg says inspirational posters are hung around the Facebook campus that say things like “Done is Better than Perfect,” “Move Fast and Break Things,” and “Fortune Favors the Bold.” One of her favorites says “Ruthless Prioritization,” which is a clue to how she schedules her day and how the company approaches meetings.
Read more of Sandberg’s insights at Quora.