
周一早上打開(kāi)工作日歷時(shí),,我們經(jīng)常會(huì)產(chǎn)生非常真實(shí)的恐慌感,滿屏五顏六色的方塊意味著我們整日不得安寧,,不由得邊看邊嘆氣,,方塊之間倒也不是沒(méi)有間隔,,不過(guò)都被切得支離破碎,很難真正完成什么工作,。更加讓人難受的是,,很多會(huì)議其實(shí)完全沒(méi)有舉行的必要,。
除了浪費(fèi)錢(qián),,無(wú)用的會(huì)議還會(huì)降低團(tuán)隊(duì)的工作效率,。研究表明,,無(wú)論身處哪個(gè)行業(yè),,在受到嚴(yán)重干擾后,再想集中注意力回去做之前的工作都需要約25分鐘的時(shí)間(進(jìn)行調(diào)整),。此外,,由于開(kāi)會(huì)不僅會(huì)導(dǎo)致員工漏掉或重復(fù)重要工作,,還會(huì)增加員工在完成任務(wù)的過(guò)程中出錯(cuò)的可能性,。在一項(xiàng)調(diào)查中,65%的員工表示,,開(kāi)會(huì)導(dǎo)致他們無(wú)法完成自己的工作,。
加上管理人員和普通員工在日程安排上存有差異,,問(wèn)題就變得更加復(fù)雜了,。以工程為例,,技術(shù)寫(xiě)手和開(kāi)發(fā)者通常以半天為單位來(lái)安排自己的工作量,而管理人員則是以小時(shí)為單位來(lái)安排工作,。如此一來(lái),,雙方在會(huì)議安排上出現(xiàn)時(shí)間沖突在所難免,。
由于擔(dān)心異地工作會(huì)影響團(tuán)隊(duì)之間的溝通效率,,管理者們大有將“文山會(huì)?!边M(jìn)行到底之勢(shì),。與此同時(shí),,數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)需要照顧家人的員工也需要更加靈活地安排自己整天(及整夜)的時(shí)間,這就讓開(kāi)會(huì)成為了一項(xiàng)空前的負(fù)擔(dān),。
既然已經(jīng)不再需要每天擔(dān)心新冠疫情的影響,,我們不妨養(yǎng)成更多長(zhǎng)期的遠(yuǎn)程工作習(xí)慣,,趁此機(jī)會(huì)革去冗余的程序,讓管理者不再“事必躬親”,,賦能員工,進(jìn)而實(shí)現(xiàn)其自我管理,。那么怎么才能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)呢,?方法就是少開(kāi)會(huì),多用數(shù)據(jù),。
數(shù)據(jù)能夠做到人類所做不到的公正和準(zhǔn)確,,也可以提供人類所給不了的洞見(jiàn)(特別是在一天開(kāi)完五場(chǎng)會(huì)之后),能夠幫助管理者更好地評(píng)估團(tuán)隊(duì)的工作狀態(tài),、項(xiàng)目進(jìn)展?fàn)顩r甚至員工的感受,,進(jìn)而提升整體的信任度和工作質(zhì)量。對(duì)許多公司而言,,數(shù)據(jù)是最終擺脫無(wú)用會(huì)議的決定性因素,。各家公司均應(yīng)采用此種舉措,原因如下:
數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)式分析可以提供更多洞見(jiàn)
會(huì)議在反映實(shí)際工作進(jìn)展方面難免出現(xiàn)偏差或失準(zhǔn)的狀況,。員工在評(píng)估自己的工作進(jìn)度時(shí)只能夠給出主觀看法,,并且經(jīng)常會(huì)低估或高估自己的表現(xiàn),畢竟大家都是凡人,。此外,,由于員工性格各不相同,管理者有時(shí)也會(huì)對(duì)員工的表現(xiàn)做出錯(cuò)誤判斷:有些員工可能看起來(lái)對(duì)工作不夠投入或者缺乏熱情,,但實(shí)際上卻是工作效率最高的員工之一,。
如此一來(lái),開(kāi)會(huì)可能就會(huì)變成例行公事,,成為了團(tuán)隊(duì)成員自動(dòng)更新工作進(jìn)度(并重復(fù)已經(jīng)由項(xiàng)目管理工具完成的工作)的場(chǎng)所,,或者干脆只是向管理層報(bào)告后者想聽(tīng)的內(nèi)容,。
隨著技術(shù)的不斷進(jìn)步,數(shù)據(jù)已經(jīng)成為包括非技術(shù)企業(yè)在內(nèi)的各類企業(yè)的可選解決方案,可以更深刻地體現(xiàn)員工的工作效率,,讓管理者客觀了解與員工的工作進(jìn)度,、工作質(zhì)量和工作成果有關(guān)的大部分信息,。
ActivTrak,、Timely和ZeroedIn等分析平臺(tái)集成了大量的團(tuán)隊(duì)項(xiàng)目管理工具,、代碼庫(kù)等工具,,能夠?qū)崟r(shí)記錄員工表現(xiàn),,無(wú)需開(kāi)會(huì)分享信息即可自動(dòng)生成報(bào)告。借助各種反映優(yōu)先指標(biāo)(如預(yù)算內(nèi)完成的票據(jù)或項(xiàng)目數(shù)量)的數(shù)據(jù),,管理人員可以在不打斷員工工作的情況下審查團(tuán)隊(duì)或個(gè)人的工作效率,。
借助這些數(shù)據(jù),管理人員能夠隨時(shí)獲取即時(shí)反饋,,再也不必為了了解大家的進(jìn)度而等著開(kāi)溝通會(huì),。此外,由于數(shù)據(jù)更加標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化,,而且在報(bào)告時(shí)更不容易出現(xiàn)人為錯(cuò)誤,,還可以在一定程度上確保遠(yuǎn)程協(xié)作團(tuán)隊(duì)之間實(shí)現(xiàn)步調(diào)一致。
簡(jiǎn)化溝通機(jī)制
假設(shè)公司內(nèi)部的溝通機(jī)制能夠推倒重建,,那么大多數(shù)管理人員都會(huì)想實(shí)現(xiàn)一些相似的目標(biāo),,比如互動(dòng)內(nèi)容應(yīng)當(dāng)新鮮、吸引人,、簡(jiǎn)潔且簡(jiǎn)約,,并且一定要給大家留出時(shí)間進(jìn)行友好的私人對(duì)話。
換句話說(shuō),,大家都希望簡(jiǎn)化內(nèi)部的溝通機(jī)制,,過(guò)濾掉無(wú)用信息,將且僅將有用信息準(zhǔn)確傳遞到需要這些信息的地方,。
要想減少開(kāi)會(huì)次數(shù),,首先要精簡(jiǎn)參會(huì)人員。開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)當(dāng)然可以帶上實(shí)習(xí)生,畢竟他們需要在工作中學(xué)習(xí),,你也能夠盡可能多地召集可以為會(huì)議帶來(lái)多樣觀點(diǎn)的人員,,但也不要忘記斯坦福大學(xué)教授羅伯特·I·薩頓曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò),只有當(dāng)參會(huì)人數(shù)為5到9人時(shí),,開(kāi)會(huì)才能夠獲得較高的效率,。此外需要注意的是,日常短會(huì)和一對(duì)一會(huì)議會(huì)很快對(duì)所有參會(huì)者造成干擾,,在這些會(huì)議沒(méi)有數(shù)據(jù)支撐時(shí)尤其如此,。
開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)要“照章辦事”,會(huì)前需要先將簡(jiǎn)明議程發(fā)送給與會(huì)各方,,闡明會(huì)議中所需要討論的主題,,并盡可能地減少參會(huì)人數(shù),非發(fā)言人的答復(fù)時(shí)間必須控制在2分鐘以內(nèi),。你還應(yīng)當(dāng)指定專人負(fù)責(zé)記錄會(huì)議內(nèi)容,,或創(chuàng)建會(huì)議文檔供與會(huì)人員協(xié)作使用。
除開(kāi)會(huì)外,,上述做法也可以用于其他溝通領(lǐng)域,。假設(shè)你所在的公司使用了Slack,那么你能夠減少溝通渠道的數(shù)量,,或者借助時(shí)間參數(shù)規(guī)定各方發(fā)送信息的時(shí)間,。你也可以考慮將部分個(gè)人反饋談話改為線上調(diào)查或一分鐘自拍視頻的形式。相較于面對(duì)面溝通,,此類方法能夠讓員工更自由地表達(dá)自己的想法,。
建立起對(duì)同事的信任
員工希望自己在工作上擁有自主權(quán),查崗過(guò)于頻繁會(huì)讓他們覺(jué)得自己處于監(jiān)視之下,。而擁有更多自主權(quán)的團(tuán)隊(duì)反過(guò)來(lái)也會(huì)減少對(duì)管理層的依賴,,利用相應(yīng)空間發(fā)展自己的創(chuàng)造力、韌性和解決問(wèn)題的能力,。
此處的關(guān)鍵在于,,管理者需要大幅提升(自己對(duì)員工的)信心。請(qǐng)你捫心自問(wèn):當(dāng)涉及到可交付成果問(wèn)題時(shí),,你在哪些方面可以少些親力親為?哪些原因讓你不放心給特定員工更大的自主性,?通過(guò)回答這些問(wèn)題,,你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在與員工的關(guān)系中存在問(wèn)題,或者會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)員工的工作并未達(dá)到應(yīng)有水準(zhǔn),。
與其冀望通過(guò)開(kāi)會(huì)解決這些問(wèn)題,,不如思考是否應(yīng)當(dāng)借此讓員工獲得更多學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)。借助員工的表現(xiàn)數(shù)據(jù),你能夠輕松發(fā)現(xiàn)何人在哪些方面需要幫助,,并為其提供相應(yīng)的培訓(xùn)材料,,員工將不再羞于要求獲得額外支持,管理人員也可以與團(tuán)隊(duì)建立起更緊密的私人關(guān)系,。
留出時(shí)間,,提升員工的幸福感
據(jù)調(diào)查,41%的美國(guó)成年人表示自己因?yàn)樾鹿谝咔槎霈F(xiàn)了心理健康問(wèn)題,。在此背景下,,管理者需要在提升員工幸福感方面發(fā)揮更積極的作用,但如果在開(kāi)會(huì)上花費(fèi)太多時(shí)間,,自然也就無(wú)法做到這一點(diǎn),。
簡(jiǎn)化溝通首先有助于減少與“文山會(huì)海”有關(guān)的焦慮或壓力,。其次,,其讓管理者有時(shí)間深入研究有關(guān)員工表現(xiàn)的數(shù)據(jù),發(fā)現(xiàn)員工狀態(tài)不佳,、工作時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)或難以維持工作效率的跡象,,并據(jù)此制定嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)男袆?dòng)計(jì)劃,確定何時(shí)需要與員工進(jìn)行面對(duì)面溝通,。此外,,對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)的掌握也讓管理者能夠在參加會(huì)議時(shí)對(duì)員工表現(xiàn)了然于心,清楚知曉各個(gè)員工的長(zhǎng)處和不足,,進(jìn)而增進(jìn)與員工之間的關(guān)系,。
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái),會(huì)議一直被視為工作中的“必要之惡”,。隨著團(tuán)隊(duì)完全進(jìn)入遠(yuǎn)程工作狀態(tài),,用接連不斷的大會(huì)小會(huì)彌補(bǔ)空間上的距離也成了一個(gè)誘人的選擇。但從長(zhǎng)期來(lái)看,,選擇數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)分析的企業(yè)將可以更好地應(yīng)對(duì)未來(lái)出現(xiàn)的變化,、優(yōu)化業(yè)務(wù)流程。企業(yè)應(yīng)當(dāng)以此為契機(jī),,打破傳統(tǒng)行為方式,,增強(qiáng)員工的創(chuàng)造力并強(qiáng)化對(duì)員工的信任和支持。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
亞歷克斯·瑟曦是工程師表現(xiàn)分析平臺(tái)Waydev公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官,。
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
周一早上打開(kāi)工作日歷時(shí),,我們經(jīng)常會(huì)產(chǎn)生非常真實(shí)的恐慌感,滿屏五顏六色的方塊意味著我們整日不得安寧,,不由得邊看邊嘆氣,,方塊之間倒也不是沒(méi)有間隔,不過(guò)都被切得支離破碎,很難真正完成什么工作,。更加讓人難受的是,,很多會(huì)議其實(shí)完全沒(méi)有舉行的必要。
除了浪費(fèi)錢(qián),,無(wú)用的會(huì)議還會(huì)降低團(tuán)隊(duì)的工作效率,。研究表明,無(wú)論身處哪個(gè)行業(yè),,在受到嚴(yán)重干擾后,,再想集中注意力回去做之前的工作都需要約25分鐘的時(shí)間(進(jìn)行調(diào)整)。此外,,由于開(kāi)會(huì)不僅會(huì)導(dǎo)致員工漏掉或重復(fù)重要工作,,還會(huì)增加員工在完成任務(wù)的過(guò)程中出錯(cuò)的可能性。在一項(xiàng)調(diào)查中,,65%的員工表示,,開(kāi)會(huì)導(dǎo)致他們無(wú)法完成自己的工作。
加上管理人員和普通員工在日程安排上存有差異,,問(wèn)題就變得更加復(fù)雜了,。以工程為例,技術(shù)寫(xiě)手和開(kāi)發(fā)者通常以半天為單位來(lái)安排自己的工作量,,而管理人員則是以小時(shí)為單位來(lái)安排工作,。如此一來(lái),雙方在會(huì)議安排上出現(xiàn)時(shí)間沖突在所難免,。
由于擔(dān)心異地工作會(huì)影響團(tuán)隊(duì)之間的溝通效率,,管理者們大有將“文山會(huì)海”進(jìn)行到底之勢(shì),。與此同時(shí),,數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)需要照顧家人的員工也需要更加靈活地安排自己整天(及整夜)的時(shí)間,這就讓開(kāi)會(huì)成為了一項(xiàng)空前的負(fù)擔(dān),。
既然已經(jīng)不再需要每天擔(dān)心新冠疫情的影響,,我們不妨養(yǎng)成更多長(zhǎng)期的遠(yuǎn)程工作習(xí)慣,趁此機(jī)會(huì)革去冗余的程序,,讓管理者不再“事必躬親”,,賦能員工,進(jìn)而實(shí)現(xiàn)其自我管理,。那么怎么才能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)呢,?方法就是少開(kāi)會(huì),多用數(shù)據(jù),。
數(shù)據(jù)能夠做到人類所做不到的公正和準(zhǔn)確,也可以提供人類所給不了的洞見(jiàn)(特別是在一天開(kāi)完五場(chǎng)會(huì)之后),能夠幫助管理者更好地評(píng)估團(tuán)隊(duì)的工作狀態(tài),、項(xiàng)目進(jìn)展?fàn)顩r甚至員工的感受,,進(jìn)而提升整體的信任度和工作質(zhì)量。對(duì)許多公司而言,,數(shù)據(jù)是最終擺脫無(wú)用會(huì)議的決定性因素,。各家公司均應(yīng)采用此種舉措,原因如下:
數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)式分析可以提供更多洞見(jiàn)
會(huì)議在反映實(shí)際工作進(jìn)展方面難免出現(xiàn)偏差或失準(zhǔn)的狀況,。員工在評(píng)估自己的工作進(jìn)度時(shí)只能夠給出主觀看法,,并且經(jīng)常會(huì)低估或高估自己的表現(xiàn),畢竟大家都是凡人,。此外,,由于員工性格各不相同,管理者有時(shí)也會(huì)對(duì)員工的表現(xiàn)做出錯(cuò)誤判斷:有些員工可能看起來(lái)對(duì)工作不夠投入或者缺乏熱情,,但實(shí)際上卻是工作效率最高的員工之一,。
如此一來(lái),開(kāi)會(huì)可能就會(huì)變成例行公事,,成為了團(tuán)隊(duì)成員自動(dòng)更新工作進(jìn)度(并重復(fù)已經(jīng)由項(xiàng)目管理工具完成的工作)的場(chǎng)所,,或者干脆只是向管理層報(bào)告后者想聽(tīng)的內(nèi)容。
隨著技術(shù)的不斷進(jìn)步,,數(shù)據(jù)已經(jīng)成為包括非技術(shù)企業(yè)在內(nèi)的各類企業(yè)的可選解決方案,,可以更深刻地體現(xiàn)員工的工作效率,讓管理者客觀了解與員工的工作進(jìn)度,、工作質(zhì)量和工作成果有關(guān)的大部分信息,。
ActivTrak、Timely和ZeroedIn等分析平臺(tái)集成了大量的團(tuán)隊(duì)項(xiàng)目管理工具,、代碼庫(kù)等工具,,能夠?qū)崟r(shí)記錄員工表現(xiàn),無(wú)需開(kāi)會(huì)分享信息即可自動(dòng)生成報(bào)告,。借助各種反映優(yōu)先指標(biāo)(如預(yù)算內(nèi)完成的票據(jù)或項(xiàng)目數(shù)量)的數(shù)據(jù),,管理人員可以在不打斷員工工作的情況下審查團(tuán)隊(duì)或個(gè)人的工作效率。
借助這些數(shù)據(jù),,管理人員能夠隨時(shí)獲取即時(shí)反饋,,再也不必為了了解大家的進(jìn)度而等著開(kāi)溝通會(huì)。此外,,由于數(shù)據(jù)更加標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化,,而且在報(bào)告時(shí)更不容易出現(xiàn)人為錯(cuò)誤,還可以在一定程度上確保遠(yuǎn)程協(xié)作團(tuán)隊(duì)之間實(shí)現(xiàn)步調(diào)一致,。
簡(jiǎn)化溝通機(jī)制
假設(shè)公司內(nèi)部的溝通機(jī)制能夠推倒重建,,那么大多數(shù)管理人員都會(huì)想實(shí)現(xiàn)一些相似的目標(biāo),,比如互動(dòng)內(nèi)容應(yīng)當(dāng)新鮮、吸引人,、簡(jiǎn)潔且簡(jiǎn)約,,并且一定要給大家留出時(shí)間進(jìn)行友好的私人對(duì)話。
換句話說(shuō),,大家都希望簡(jiǎn)化內(nèi)部的溝通機(jī)制,,過(guò)濾掉無(wú)用信息,將且僅將有用信息準(zhǔn)確傳遞到需要這些信息的地方,。
要想減少開(kāi)會(huì)次數(shù),,首先要精簡(jiǎn)參會(huì)人員。開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)當(dāng)然可以帶上實(shí)習(xí)生,,畢竟他們需要在工作中學(xué)習(xí),,你也能夠盡可能多地召集可以為會(huì)議帶來(lái)多樣觀點(diǎn)的人員,但也不要忘記斯坦福大學(xué)教授羅伯特·I·薩頓曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò),,只有當(dāng)參會(huì)人數(shù)為5到9人時(shí),,開(kāi)會(huì)才能夠獲得較高的效率。此外需要注意的是,,日常短會(huì)和一對(duì)一會(huì)議會(huì)很快對(duì)所有參會(huì)者造成干擾,,在這些會(huì)議沒(méi)有數(shù)據(jù)支撐時(shí)尤其如此。
開(kāi)會(huì)時(shí)要“照章辦事”,,會(huì)前需要先將簡(jiǎn)明議程發(fā)送給與會(huì)各方,,闡明會(huì)議中所需要討論的主題,并盡可能地減少參會(huì)人數(shù),,非發(fā)言人的答復(fù)時(shí)間必須控制在2分鐘以內(nèi),。你還應(yīng)當(dāng)指定專人負(fù)責(zé)記錄會(huì)議內(nèi)容,或創(chuàng)建會(huì)議文檔供與會(huì)人員協(xié)作使用,。
除開(kāi)會(huì)外,,上述做法也可以用于其他溝通領(lǐng)域。假設(shè)你所在的公司使用了Slack,,那么你能夠減少溝通渠道的數(shù)量,,或者借助時(shí)間參數(shù)規(guī)定各方發(fā)送信息的時(shí)間。你也可以考慮將部分個(gè)人反饋談話改為線上調(diào)查或一分鐘自拍視頻的形式,。相較于面對(duì)面溝通,,此類方法能夠讓員工更自由地表達(dá)自己的想法。
建立起對(duì)同事的信任
員工希望自己在工作上擁有自主權(quán),,查崗過(guò)于頻繁會(huì)讓他們覺(jué)得自己處于監(jiān)視之下,。而擁有更多自主權(quán)的團(tuán)隊(duì)反過(guò)來(lái)也會(huì)減少對(duì)管理層的依賴,利用相應(yīng)空間發(fā)展自己的創(chuàng)造力,、韌性和解決問(wèn)題的能力,。
此處的關(guān)鍵在于,,管理者需要大幅提升(自己對(duì)員工的)信心。請(qǐng)你捫心自問(wèn):當(dāng)涉及到可交付成果問(wèn)題時(shí),,你在哪些方面可以少些親力親為,?哪些原因讓你不放心給特定員工更大的自主性?通過(guò)回答這些問(wèn)題,,你可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在與員工的關(guān)系中存在問(wèn)題,或者會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)員工的工作并未達(dá)到應(yīng)有水準(zhǔn),。
與其冀望通過(guò)開(kāi)會(huì)解決這些問(wèn)題,,不如思考是否應(yīng)當(dāng)借此讓員工獲得更多學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)。借助員工的表現(xiàn)數(shù)據(jù),,你能夠輕松發(fā)現(xiàn)何人在哪些方面需要幫助,,并為其提供相應(yīng)的培訓(xùn)材料,員工將不再羞于要求獲得額外支持,,管理人員也可以與團(tuán)隊(duì)建立起更緊密的私人關(guān)系,。
留出時(shí)間,提升員工的幸福感
據(jù)調(diào)查,,41%的美國(guó)成年人表示自己因?yàn)樾鹿谝咔槎霈F(xiàn)了心理健康問(wèn)題,。在此背景下,管理者需要在提升員工幸福感方面發(fā)揮更積極的作用,,但如果在開(kāi)會(huì)上花費(fèi)太多時(shí)間,,自然也就無(wú)法做到這一點(diǎn)。
簡(jiǎn)化溝通首先有助于減少與“文山會(huì)?!庇嘘P(guān)的焦慮或壓力,。其次,其讓管理者有時(shí)間深入研究有關(guān)員工表現(xiàn)的數(shù)據(jù),,發(fā)現(xiàn)員工狀態(tài)不佳,、工作時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)或難以維持工作效率的跡象,并據(jù)此制定嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)男袆?dòng)計(jì)劃,,確定何時(shí)需要與員工進(jìn)行面對(duì)面溝通,。此外,對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)的掌握也讓管理者能夠在參加會(huì)議時(shí)對(duì)員工表現(xiàn)了然于心,,清楚知曉各個(gè)員工的長(zhǎng)處和不足,,進(jìn)而增進(jìn)與員工之間的關(guān)系。
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái),,會(huì)議一直被視為工作中的“必要之惡”,。隨著團(tuán)隊(duì)完全進(jìn)入遠(yuǎn)程工作狀態(tài),用接連不斷的大會(huì)小會(huì)彌補(bǔ)空間上的距離也成了一個(gè)誘人的選擇,。但從長(zhǎng)期來(lái)看,,選擇數(shù)據(jù)驅(qū)動(dòng)分析的企業(yè)將可以更好地應(yīng)對(duì)未來(lái)出現(xiàn)的變化,、優(yōu)化業(yè)務(wù)流程。企業(yè)應(yīng)當(dāng)以此為契機(jī),,打破傳統(tǒng)行為方式,,增強(qiáng)員工的創(chuàng)造力并強(qiáng)化對(duì)員工的信任和支持。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
亞歷克斯·瑟曦是工程師表現(xiàn)分析平臺(tái)Waydev公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官,。
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
Opening your work calendar on a Monday morning often comes with a very real sense of dread. You stare and sigh at the colorful squares blocking off hours of your time throughout the day, and the awkward intervals in between the squares confirm that it’ll be a struggle to get any real work done. The most frustrating thing? Most of these meetings aren’t necessary.
More than being expensive, useless meetings are a quick way to stunt team productivity. Across industries, research shows that it takes 25 minutes to return your concentration back to an original task after a significant interruption. Meetings also increase the likelihood of people committing errors during a task, because they miss or repeat important components. And in one survey, 65% of workers said that meetings keep them from completing their own work.
Complicating the issue is the fact that managers and employees don’t tend to operate on the same schedules. In engineering, for example, writers and developers typically plan their workloads in units of half a day, whereas managers work in hours—so there’s an inherent misalignment when it comes to meetings.
With the current need to bridge the physical distance between teams, managers are at risk of using excessive meetings to ease insecurities they have around communication. Yet at the same time, meetings have become more cumbersome than ever, as millions of employees with caregiving responsibilities need flexible schedules throughout the day (and night).
Now that our heads have just about stopped spinning from the impact of the COVID pandemic, and we can ease into more permanent remote habits, we should seize this as a chance to cut the fat, stop managers from micromanaging, and empower employees to self-regulate. How? By relying less on meetings and more on data.
Data is unbiased, accurate, and insightful in a way that humans can’t be (especially after the fifth meeting of the day). It can help managers better understand how teams are working, how projects are progressing, and even how employees are feeling—boosting overall trust and work quality. For many companies, data is the deciding factor in finally getting rid of useless meetings. Here’s why it’s time to follow suit in your workplace:
Data-driven analytics offer greater insight
Meetings aren’t always an accurate or even truthful reflection of the work that’s being done. Employees can only provide a subjective measurement of their progress—and they typically under- or overestimate their performance. We’re only human. Different personality types can also send misleading messages: Someone who appears unengaged or uninterested may actually be one of your most productive employees.
Then there’s the risk of meetings being merely transactional, where team members autopilot their updates (and repeat the work that’s already being done by project management tools), or simply tell managers what they want to hear.
We’ve reached a level of technological progress in which data is the solution for any business—whether they’re a tech company or not. Data gives a more in-depth look at employees’ productivity, objectively telling you most of what you need to know about their progress, quality, and output.
Analytics platforms such as ActivTrak, Timely, and ZeroedIn integrate with a wide range of teams’ project management tools, codebase, and more to document employee performance in real time, and to automate reporting rather than relying on information shared in meetings. Managers can turn to data around priority metrics (e.g., the number of completed tickets or projects finished within budget) to review team or individual productivity without interrupting employees’ workflow.
This data generates more immediate feedback, at any point in the day, without managers having to wait for catch-up meetings to know where everyone is at. It also ensures a level of consistency across remote teams because the data is more standardized and there is less chance of human error when reporting.
Streamlining communication
Imagine you had a clean slate to reinvent how you communicate within your company. Most managers would have similar desires: Interactions should always be fresh and engaging, succinct and minimalistic, and there must be time for people to have informal, friendly chats.
In other words, you want to streamline internal communication, which means condensing necessary information and delivering it exactly where it needs to be, no more, no less.
Reducing the number of meetings starts with being economical about the people you include in your processes. It’s fine to have trainees join meetings as they learn on the job, and for each of your brain trusts to be as diverse as possible. But keep in mind that Stanford professor Robert I. Sutton says meetings are more productive when only seven people (plus or minus two) are in attendance. Also be wary that daily stand-ups and one-to-ones can quickly become disruptive for everyone involved, especially if the narrative for these meetings isn’t based on data.
Be disciplined with the meetings you keep. Send out a concise agenda in advance, stating the topics to be covered. Strip down the attendee list to the bare minimum. Limit people who aren’t presenting to two-minute responses. Appoint someone as the scribe to take notes or create an in-meeting document for people to collaborate on.
Outside of meetings, these practices can be applied to other areas of communication. If your company uses Slack, for example, the number of channels could be reduced, or time parameters could be introduced for when people can send messages. Why not replace some of your individual feedback sessions with online surveys, or one-minute self-recorded videos? This might even allow employees to express their sentiment more freely than they would in person.
Building trust with coworkers
People want to feel that they have autonomy on the job, and excessive check-ins may give them the impression they’re under surveillance. But teams that are given more freedom will in turn be less dependent on their leadership, giving them space to develop their own creativity, resilience, and problem-solving skills.
The point here is that managers need to take a leap of faith. Ask yourself honestly: Where could you be less hands-on when it comes to deliverables? If you’re struggling to give certain employees more independence, why is that? It might be a red flag that something is wrong in your relationship with your staff, or that their work isn’t up to scratch.
Rather than fall back on meetings, see if this is actually a chance to give your employees more educational opportunities. Using performance data, you can easily identify who needs assistance in what areas and offer them corresponding training materials. With such data, employees don’t have to feel shy about asking for extra support, and managers can foster a closer informal relationship with the team.
Making time for employees’ well-being
With 41% of American adults saying they’ve struggled with mental health due to COVID-19, managers need to take a more active role in employee well-being. Yet they can’t do so when spending a disproportionate amount of time in meetings.
Streamlined communication helps in the first place by reducing anxiety or stress relating to too many meetings. Second, it gives managers the time to delve into data around employee performance and flag any signs that an employee is unwell, stacking up too many hours, or is struggling to maintain their productivity levels. In response, managers can put together a mindful action plan and determine when a personal check-in is needed. It also means they can arrive at a meeting with the full picture of the employee’s performance—where they’re strongest, where they’re lagging—which is a solid springboard to really connect with people.
Meetings have long been seen as a necessary evil at work. As teams go fully remote, it’s tempting to overcompensate for the distance with more meetings. But businesses that opt for data-driven analytics instead will be better prepared to deal with change and to optimize processes for the long term. Take this as an opportunity to disrupt your traditional way of doing things, and to enhance creativity, trust, and support among your workforce.
Alex Circei is the CEO and cofounder of Waydev, an analytics platform that measures engineers’ performance.