How to stop wasting time in meetings, feedback, and making decisions.

We all do it: we spend too much time debating things that ultimately aren’t urgent or important.

We all have meetings (some more successful than others); we can’t escape them. However, meetings aren’t always bad. Well structured agenda’s, good timekeeping and clear actions make meetings more successful, on the whole.

But what about the discussion: the core part of the meeting where opinions & facts are debated? These can take longer than is really required, and for the majority of the time this is due to individuals debating something that they are actually less opinionated about.

We also solicit feedback directly, but it’s sometimes difficult to know how invested the other person is in the feedback they’re giving. Let me give you an example: in a design critique we’re asked to critique a specific piece of work and a designer might receive the below sort of feedback.

This carousel feels clunky, can we make it smoother

I prefer this button to shake when it can no longer be clicked

How is the designer expected to know which of these to action? Sometimes people default to the most senior person in the room (which is all sorts of wrong), action everything, or only action the feedback that they personally agree with.

So how do we resolve this?

We ask a simple question: how much do you really care between 1-5? (1 = less, 5 = more)

If we identify that a discussion is about to start, we ask this question first. If both or all individuals are <2 we go with the initial recommendation, or make a decision then and there.

If people are at opposite ends of the scale, the person at 5 gets to drive the conversation.

If both are at 5 we either continue the discussion because getting to a decision is the highest priority, or we schedule a separate discussion as to not disrupt the flow of the current meeting.

In the feedback scenario, imagine the same feedback but with a clear indication of how much that person really cares:

• “This carousel feels clunky, can we make it smoother”

  I’m a 4, this feels weird against all of our other interaction patterns

• “I prefer this button to shake when it can no longer be clicked”

  I’m only a 2 on this so take it with a pinch of salt

What have we found

By doing this, we’ve found we just spend less time on things that people weren’t that passionate about or that don’t require lengthy discussions.

So saving us time, sanity and more importantly means we can focus on the things that really are important.

Give it a try—does it work for you?