Death by Meeting - Book review

Just finished a must-read book by Patrick Lencioni, "Death by Meeting." It's a "business fiction" book where he uses a story to teach principles on how to have productive and engaging meetings. In his consulting work, he has found that most meetings are boring and unproductive - of course I've never experienced that!

Lencioni contends that meetings need 2 things: Drama and Structure. Drama is created as team members are willing to engage in honest conversations, pushing back (respectfully) on statements, direction, etc. It's the healthy conflict in a meeting that helps to drill down to core convictions, beliefs, and leads to solid decisions. After wrestling through the issues, the team makes a decision - and may not be in consensus, but all support the decision once it's made because every team member participated and had the opportunity to give their honest input.

Structure refers to what is covered in your meetings. Most meetings are a hodgepodge of information items, reports, discussions, decisions, planning, etc. Lencioni proposes a Four Meeting method:

1. Daily Check-in: 5 minute stand up meeting each day with your team, where each team member shares what they're working on that day. This helps to keep the team connected and knowing what's going on in the department.
2. Weekly Tactical: 45-90 minute meeting to review weekly activity and metrics, and to resolve tactical obstacles and issues (you'll have to get the book to see how to structure this meeting!).
3. Monthly Strategic: Rather than address directional issues in the weekly meeting, set aside an extended time every month (or schedule ad hoc if there are pressing issues) to focus only on strategy. Limit the meeting to one or two issues and allow 90 min - 2 hrs per issue. Every team member should take time to prepare for this meeting by doing their homework / research.
4. Quarterly Off-site Review: this is where you review strategy, industry trends, personnel, and do team development.

Sound like a lot of meetings? Yes, but in the long run, you'll accomplish far more, have clearer direction, and find that your meetings are more engaging and productive.

To get the full picture, I'd recommend reading the book yourself. I picked up a used copy on Amazon, and with shipping it was under $8. It's an easy read that draws you into the story line while helping you understand key principles of good meetings. The last section of the book summarizes the principles in a "traditional" fashion, so you can refer back to them and implement them with your team.

Happy reading... and happy meetings!

How do you see these principles lived out in a non-profit or church setting?