Your Meeting Smells

I have about 20 seconds to pitch an agenda to a global sales team on things that business needs them to know or take action on.

It’s important stuff.

So why do I only get 20 seconds?

My audience is the sales team, the front line self-starters with whirring brains, juggling multiple deals at one time, and are held responsible for generating revenue for the business.

Everyone thinks they have ADHD. They can’t pay attention long.

But that’s not true

Sales reps don’t have short attention spans. They have short interest spans.

If reps are interested, they will give you their full attention. Like most people.

I get less than a minute to get them interested.

So when other stakeholders present in our weekly sales team meetings, we like to run a tight ship.

The results of a well organized and concise meeting are that questions get asked and reps challenge what they just heard. People unmute themselves and engage with the speaker. Sales managers reiterate on key messages so the team doubles down on what’s important.

Every meeting is unique.

But the results we are after are similar.

And lately, there’s been lots of meeting smell.

Why your meeting smells

“Meeting smell” comes from code smell. Code smell is an engineering term used when something feels off or is weird because there is a deeper problem in the code.

It makes a good parallel.

This is your meeting smell—

hints that your meeting is not useful:

• people dial in without any idea if they have a role in the meeting - agendas solve this problem

• audience leaves the meeting not quite sure what was talked about - desired outcomes solve this problem 

• a new meeting invite pops up on your calendar to talk about the meeting you just had - that’s the worst kind of smell 

• no one knows if they were tasked with follow ups they need to action - follow-up comms solve this problem

• but during the meeting itself, the chat was inactive 

• people didn’t have their video on

• no one unmuted themselves to say anything

• as a matter of fact, there was no sign of life on the call

Why I Care About This

I love meetings.

Gathering people online to communicate and work together is important. I am a full fledged extrovert and if I didn’t have a couple meetings a week, my spirit would crumble. 

I’m on Zoom calls with my CreatorIQ work, the clubs I’m in, and communities I’m leading. 

As a fan of meetings, I want them to be better

This is a call to action for you to air out your meeting smell.

Let me help you.

1. Does this meeting need to happen?

   Start by taking a step back— ask yourself and the appropriate stakeholders if there is value in meeting. Saying “it’s our weekly team sync” is not a real answer. Certain meetings can be emails. Revisit why you have those meetings because as the famous saying goes: the most dangerous phrase in our English language is “it’s always been done this way.”

2. Do attendees know what to expect when they dial in?

   When people have no idea what role they’re expected to play on a call, it is a huge miss.

   • If it’s a brainstorming session, then sharing an agenda ahead of time allows your participants to think and come prepared to discuss

   • If it’s a singular or non-recurring 1:1, knowing what you want to learn or ask about helps the other person gather her thoughts first

   • If it’s a team-wide communication, coordination should happen at the front because it’s the facilitator’s role to set your speakers up for success

   • If it’s a chill 1:1 hey-just-wanna-catchup-real-quick-and-check-on-you call, then letting someone know what to expect before they dial in is useful. It helps people manage their time and energy better.

3. Are you communicating clearly?

   I don’t know why people believe it’s a good idea to show slides with LOTS of text and then start talking. Am I reading or am I listening? Because humans cannot read and listen at the same time.

   One will give.

   Half your audience might stop reading and just listen — so the text is useless.

   The other half is trying to concentrate and read the 2439 words you put up and so they’re tuning your voice out.

   People do this slide after slide after slide and eventually, your attendees zone out because they’re lost. And bored.

   You need to be intentional and clear.

4. Are you present?

   Seth Godin puts it best in his Zoom Agreement:

   The purpose of a meeting is not to fill the allocated slot on the Google calendar invite. The purpose is to communicate an idea and the emotions that go with it, and to find out what’s missing via engaged conversation.

   If we can’t do that, let’s not meet.

   Multi-tasking isn’t productive, respectful or healthy.

And that’s it.

All You Need To do is Nail the Basics

Start with these four questions.

No need to overcomplicate it. Keep your meetings thoughtful, crisp, and connected with the larger projects or mission at play.