10 Questions that should be asked at every workplace meeting
1) What is the purpose of this meeting?
Are we gonna get to the bottom of who shot JFK or what the heck happened to that Malaysian flight? Or are we just gonna waste time chatting about who's gonna hit up the karaoke bar this weekend? And seriously, do I even need to be here? I've got a desk overflowing with customer complaints and requests that are more important than this meeting's topic. Plus, let's be real, this could've been handled in a quick email, amirite?
2) What are the specific goals or outcomes we hope to achieve?
Are we looking to conquer the world or are we going to spend the next six months going around in circles like a group of lost puppies? Are the goals realistic, or are we setting ourselves up for failure? Let's take a moment to consider our resources - we struggle to keep up with the day-to-day tasks, so is taking on a massive project really a good idea?
3) Who is expected to attend this meeting, and who has been invited to participate?
Will we have the right players in the game or just a group of lost souls staring into the abyss of confusion? Will we all sit there like a bunch of tumbleweeds, silent and awkward? And if we do happen to muster up the courage to speak, will we be assigned an action item that we'll regret for the rest of our lives?
4) What information or materials do we need to review or discuss during the meeting?
Are we going to be discussing something useful, or is this going to be a pointless discussion about unicorns and rainbows? Do we have any actual information or materials to review, or are we going to be flying blind and wasting everyone's time? Let's make sure that we have all the necessary facts and figures before we start this meeting, so we can actually get something done.
5) How much time do we have for this meeting, and what is the proposed agenda?
Are we gonna be here for two hours or are we gonna be stuck in this never-ending meeting until we all start growing long hair and grey beards? And please tell me there's an agenda or are we just gonna stare at a blank screen like it's some kind of modern art piece?
6) Who will be responsible for leading the discussion or making decisions during the meeting?
Is it gonna be our fearless leader or is it gonna be the office clown who thinks they're the smartest person in the room? If you are the host make sure you make it clear that you are leading the meeting.
7) How will the meeting be structured, and what methods will be used to facilitate communication and collaboration?
Are we gonna be doing some kind of interpretive dance or are we just gonna communicate like normal humans with an actual agenda?
8) How will the meeting be documented, and who will be responsible for taking notes or recording the proceedings?
Can someone please make sure they're taking notes and not drawing doodles of matchstick people or writing their bucket list?
And if you're going to doodle, at least make them look like Picasso's artwork or something, not like you're drawing with your non-dominant hand. But seriously, if we don't have accurate notes from the meeting, it will be like it never happened, and we'll have to do it all over again. So, let's not leave it to chance and make sure we have a responsible note-taker who can resist the temptation of drawing silly cartoons.
9) How will the results of the meeting be communicated to those who were not able to attend?
Are we going old school with smoke signals or should we just stick to the good old reliable email? Maybe we can even use Morse code for a bit of a challenge! But seriously, let's make sure the communication is crystal clear and doesn't require a secret code to decipher. And don't leave off the very people this information is attended for on the email. The last thing you want it someone calling you up saying they never knew anything about this.
10) How will the outcomes of the meeting be followed up on, and what actions will be taken to implement any decisions or recommendations made during the meeting?
If we don't have any follow-up actions, then we might as well have been discussing the latest episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians". So let's have a purpose, people!
If we leave this meeting without any follow-up actions, we'll be like a ship without a sail, lost at sea, and our efforts will be as pointless as a screen door on a submarine.
So let's put our thinking caps on, and make sure we have some tangible actions to implement our decisions and recommendations. Otherwise, we'll be back to square one, just like the hamster running on its wheel, going nowhere fast.
