Those last few minutes are crucial

My simple but powerful tip for today.

At the end of every meeting, spend the last 5-10 minutes asking everyone to share the actions they’re taking away in succinct bullet points – allow (say) one minute per person. 

Why does this work?

Time and time again, people tell me that actions are discussed but left ‘hanging’ or people ‘forget’ to note down what they’ve agreed to. And even if minutes are circulated afterwards, they ‘forget’ to read them – and thus they’re unprepared when the next meeting comes around. 

I got some pushback when I mentioned this idea to a client recently: ‘But I don’t want to micro-manage them,’ he said. ‘They’re all adults’. 

And yet – he was hugely frustrated because most of his team weren’t doing what they’d agreed to do because they ‘got busy’ with other things or ‘forgot’ or the action hadn’t been clear enough in the first place. 

Once he got them to share their key actions, things became clearer. 

Saying the actions out loud showed up any gaps or misunderstandings. 

Saying it out loud made it easier to remember.  

Saying it out loud – and making a public commitment in the team – made it more likely that they would do what they said they would do. 

No micro-managing required. 

To your success always.