In his Podcast series This is Product Management, Mike Fishbein explores the ever-developing practice of product management. In each episode, an invitee gives a new angle on what Prout Management is to them.
Thibaut Davoult - who manages growth at Solid - sat down to talk with Mike about meetings. In this 30-minute long interview, he shared a few tips gathered over the past year working on Solid’s community growth that apply to Product Managers in particular. You can listen to the entire episode on iTunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
Here are a few takeaways:
Never having meetings is ultimately counterproductive.
A large part of doing meetings right is knowing when a meeting is necessary or when an email will be sufficient. For example, just giving someone a task to complete doesn’t necessarily require a meeting and can probably just be “Slack-ed.” However, when there is a creative aspect that requires brainstorming, a meeting is unavoidable, and can actually be quite effective if done right.
There is a lot to gain from having meetings that you really can’t get from an email thread or Slack conversation. In a meeting, you have the opportunity to observe people’s immediate reactions to ideas and watch their body language. Thibaut also stressed the importance of using the physical space around you during a meeting. It is valuable when ideas are shared in the same space and discussed in the same context.
Thibaut shared a few tips for the before, during and after phases of a meeting. Here are a few:
The BEFORE
Keep meetings as short as possible. If necessary, divide one potential meeting into a series of shorter sessions to keep people focused. It can be more productive to have multiple meetings, each with one goal, rather than one long meeting with a lengthy list of goals.
Prepare. If you’re going to make a point, have data ready to back that point up right away. And if you’re going to use data, study it beforehand.
Let everyone know what the agenda of the meeting is so all the attendees can come better prepared.
The DURING
First and foremost- be on time! So much time is wasted just waiting for everyone to gather for the meeting. It starts with the meeting organizer. If you are on time for the meeting, it will encourage everyone to be on time.
Go over the agenda at the beginning of the meeting to remind everyone what the goals and objectives of the meeting are.
Start with whatever the objective of the meeting is and save all questions for the end. Don’t get sidetracked from the main topic before the meeting even begins.
Conversation should be based on data. Without it, people can express their opinions for hours without anything being accomplished.
Sometimes you won’t be able to reach a conclusion or hit every goal of a meeting in the time allotted, so it’s important to go through what’s left to discuss for another time at the end of the meeting.
Take diligent notes. Specifically, all the individual tasks assigned, what goals were reached, and what goals still need to be reached at a later time.
The AFTER
Send a meeting summary to every attendee referencing what was written during the meeting.
Let people know when the next follow up meeting will occur. This sets a timeline that is very precise. It helps people organize their own timelines so they can be prepared for the next meeting.