This isn’t post lauding Google’s business model, working environment (per se), or their tech sensibilities.
It is a post talking about a decision Larry Page made, that all leaders could make; a decision about meetings – what they are for and how to run them.
The insight comes from the Business Insider Website, specifically this post. In it, some changes to meeting strategy are explained, instituted by Larry Page when he took over last spring. The following key components of that new meeting strategy are copied here:
- Every meeting must have one clear decision maker. If there’s no decision maker — or no decision to be made — the meeting shouldn’t happen.
- No more than 10 people should attend.
- Every person should give input, otherwise they shouldn’t be there.
- No decision should ever wait for a meeting. If a meeting absolutely has to happen before a decision should be made, then the meeting should be scheduled immediately.
Much has been written about meeting effectiveness over the years. I’ve certainly weighed in myself, with posts like:
Do you really need a meeting to make a decision?
Keeping your meetings on topic (and out of the weeds)
What I like about Larry’s four “rules” fall into two general categories: speed and focus.
Speed
As organizations mature and grow, meetings proliferate. When this happens, meetings tend to become less effective for a whole variety of reasons. What I like about the four points above is that they get people re-focused on speed. I have Clients who decide they need to decide and then schedule a meeting for weeks later. Thankfully, most of these are former Clients. Speed matters for energy, momentum, progress, and greater results.
Focus
When you use the ideas above, you will encourage/force people to be more focused and better prepared. Meetings are in place for input and action, not a place to catch up on your email because you aren’t sure why you were invited.
Regardless of your industry or where you are located, there are things you can learn from how Google runs their business – and this is a great place to start.
Great post! I have several clients I can forward this to. This is such a relevant topic for my federal clients especially that are still so meeting-centric.