This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post, where YFS Magazine regularly contributes articles about startups, small business news and entrepreneurship culture.
Are all of your “planning” meetings actually accomplishing anything? Are you by chance still preparing to prepare? If so, stop the insanity!
When time is of the essence, it’s often “time” that cannot be found — due to the rigmarole of endless meetings.
If you find yourself calling meetings, about meetings so you can prepare for that next meeting – you’re not only compromising your bottom line, but the productivity and sanity of your team as well.
Preparing to Prepare is Procrastination
Some may recognize “excessive meetings” as role justification, micro-management and as an insecurity mechanism (i.e. the left hand didn’t get the right hands memo). Fortunately, over-planning is a learned behavior that can be unlearned.
A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours. – Milton Berle
Excessive preparation, in the form of meetings, can foster a cyclical “analysis paralysis” mentality and lead to procrastination.
As a small business owner, it’s important to lead from the front. It’s unnecessary to call a committee on whether or not you should form a committee.
Because excessive planning has been known to:
1. Inhibit productivity: Holding unessential meetings could indirectly cut into your team’s performance, morale and ultimately, your bottom line.
2. Stifle leadership: As a leader, your employees rely on you to make “tough calls.” If you are irresolute in your decision-making, and require a second, third and fourth opinion — you stand to lose the confidence of your peers and colleagues.
3. Promote groupthink: It’s quite common for faulty decision-making to occur in a group setting. Groups experiencing groupthink do not consider all alternatives and they often times desire unanimity at the expense of quality decisions.
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