The symptoms of “too many meetings” syndrome

Have you ever experienced “too many meetings syndrome?”

The symptoms:

• Exhaustion due to back-to-back scheduling
• Straying attention span
• Anxiety over when you’ll get your real work done
• Confusion over who called this meeting and why

Non profit staff are in too many meetings and it’s hurting productivity and impact.

Every meeting you attend or lead should have a purpose, an outcome and a process. Leadership guru Robert Gass calls this POP. I call it a cure for “too many meetings.”

If the meeting doesn’t have a POP, you shouldn’t go.

Purpose: Why are we getting together for this meeting?

Outcome: What do we want to achieve because of this meeting?

Process: What is the agenda for this meeting?

If it doesn’t have a POP, don’t go. This is medicine that should be easy to swallow.