The Problem with Most Executive Team Meetings
Many senior leaders find their own executive team meetings to be a significant waste of time. While gathering the team regularly is important, the execution is often flawed. The core issue is that what happens during these meetings is a poor use of precious, expensive time. To improve outcomes, the structure of the meetings themselves must change.
Common Signs of an Ineffective Meeting
Does your weekly executive meeting look like this?
- Overemphasis on Status Updates: The majority of the time—often 70% to 90%—is spent reviewing what has already happened. This includes operational data that could easily be circulated in a report or viewed on a dashboard.
- Redundant Information: Updates are often repeated for the benefit of the most senior person in the room, even if others have already heard the information.
- Haphazard Agendas: The agenda is a collection of topics submitted by individuals, often featuring pet projects or minor issues that don't require the whole team.
- Narrow Focus: Discussions center on small-scale, short-term problems that could be solved by a smaller group without consuming the entire team's attention.
- Incomplete Agendas: The meeting runs out of time without covering all topics because one item sparks a prolonged debate or a detailed discussion about implementation.
5 Steps to Make Executive Meetings More Effective
To move away from these unproductive sessions, leaders must adopt a more disciplined and strategic approach. This involves fundamentally rethinking the purpose and structure of this time together.
1. Focus on Strategy, Not Operations
Operational issues will always dominate a meeting if allowed. To ensure strategy gets the attention it deserves, establish entirely separate meetings to deal with operational matters. The executive team meeting should be reserved for strategic direction and high-level oversight.
2. Focus on Decisions, Not Discussion
Every discussion should be structured to lead to a decision. Open-ended conversations are a luxury that executive meeting time cannot afford. Ensure all necessary background information and data are sent and read before the meeting so that the time together can be spent on analysis and making a decision.
3. Prioritize Based on Importance
Urgent issues can often crowd out important ones. While some urgent matters require the team's immediate attention, if the agenda is consistently driven by urgency, it signals a reactive culture. Prioritize topics based on their strategic value and long-term importance.
4. Create a Purpose-Driven Agenda
Abandon the "who has something for the agenda?" approach. An effective agenda is a strategic tool designed to focus the team on strategy and critical decisions. The leader should curate the agenda to ensure it aligns with the organization's primary goals.
5. Justify Every Agenda Item
For any topic that is proposed, ask, "Why should this team be talking about this now?"
- If the purpose is purely informational, the content should be delivered in a written report, memo, or dashboard.
- If the decision can be made more effectively by a smaller group or a different team, get it off the executive agenda and delegate it.