One way to make meetings more effective and interesting

Here’s an experiment to perform.

For your next meeting, whether in person or online, remove one distraction. This could be putting your phone away, closing your laptop, or shutting down other windows or apps or emails that might be competing for your attention. Make eye contact with the speakers. Take notes by hand. Ask calm, insightful questions. Give it 100% of your attention. Resist the urge to multitask.

See if that doesn’t make the meeting more interesting.

Multitasking doesn’t make meetings more interesting. If a critical mass of meeting participants are checking email, the meeting won’t be effective, regardless of its purpose.

Extra credit: If, after the meeting, you weren’t more engaged and interested, advocate for yourself. Give specific feedback and make specific requests to the meeting organizer. Like, “I appreciate you inviting me to the meeting. Tell me: what role did you expect me to play? Did you want me to make a decision, and if so, what was it? Did you want my advice or feedback? Or did you want me to be informed? If you wanted me to be informed, I appreciate that, and I would have been just as happy reading the meeting summary.”

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