『Stop Writing Up Meeting Actions. Make the Commitment in the Room.』のカバーアート

Stop Writing Up Meeting Actions. Make the Commitment in the Room.

Stop Writing Up Meeting Actions. Make the Commitment in the Room.

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The problem with many meetings is not necessarily the meeting itself. It is what happens afterwards.We spend time writing up minutes, writing up notes, and then going away to write up the actions that people have agreed to take. We then distribute those actions and, at some point, expect everyone to remember what they committed to doing.Does that work?Well, sometimes it does. Writing things down is certainly a useful discipline. But I have also seen how easily the process can become inefficient, particularly when the important actions from a meeting are left to be documented and followed up afterwards.About 15 years ago, a speaker called Lindsay McKenna, who I thought was excellent on operations and project management, suggested a different way of approaching this. It was a very simple idea, but it is one that I have found useful ever since.The principle is straightforward. Rather than waiting until after the meeting to write down what people have agreed to do, make the commitment during the meeting itself.In this article we’ll explore:* why traditional meeting actions can become less effective after the meeting has finished* how making commitments during the meeting changes the process* why personal and visible commitments can strengthen accountability* how a simple commitment sheet can be used in practice* how this approach can help make meetings more effectiveWhy This MattersMeetings are one of those unavoidable parts of business life. We need them to discuss issues, make decisions and agree what needs to happen next.The difficulty is that agreeing something in a meeting is not the same as making sure it happens afterwards.There is often a gap between the discussion and the action. The meeting finishes, everyone moves on to something else, and somebody has to write up the minutes or actions. Those notes then need to be distributed, read and understood. Eventually, people are expected to take responsibility for the things they agreed to do.That process can work. But there is another option.What Lindsay McKenna suggested to me was to remove some of that gap. Instead of treating the actions as something to be documented after the meeting, deal with them while everybody is still there.Do it now.Do it when people are present.That simple change is at the heart of the technique.Make the Commitment in the MeetingThe approach is based around what Lindsay called a commitment sheet.At each meeting, you have a sheet in the middle of the table. Whenever somebody says they are going to do something, the person who is going to do it takes the sheet and writes down what they are going to do.That is the important part.The person making the commitment is personally involved in recording it. They are not waiting for somebody else to interpret the discussion, write the minutes and decide what the resulting action should say.Instead, they make the commitment themselves, at the moment when the discussion is happening.By the end of the meeting, you have a list of commitments made by the people who were actually in the room. You know who has agreed to do what following the meeting.You can then photocopy the sheet and give everybody a copy.Of course, that example comes from a world of sheets of paper and photocopiers. You might prefer to use an app today, and there is nothing wrong with that.The technology is not really the point.The principle is that everybody individually commits at the moment of the discussion, to doing something to take the business forward. They commit personally, in writing and visibly.That is quite different from simply having somebody write down the actions after everyone has left the room.The Difference Is Personal CommitmentFor me, the useful part of this technique is the emphasis on personal commitment.When somebody says, during a meeting, that they are going to do something, there can be a temptation for the rest of the group to simply move on to the next subject.The commitment sheet creates a small but important pause.The person who has agreed to do something writes it down themselves.That means the commitment is made by the individual, rather than simply being captured by somebody taking the minutes.It also means that the commitment is visible to everyone else in the meeting.There is a certain clarity that comes from that. Everyone can see what has been agreed and who has agreed to do it.That can help avoid misunderstandings and reduce the risk of something being forgotten once the meeting has finished.More importantly, it creates a sense of accountability and ownership. People know that their commitment has been made in front of others and that it has been recorded.That does not require an elaborate system.It requires the discipline of making the commitment at the right time.Meetings Should Be About Moving Things ForwardOne of the reasons I like this approach is that it keeps the focus on what the meeting is supposed to achieve.A meeting should not simply be a discussion that produces ...
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