Focus on the NOW!
How many times have you chaired or been part of meetings that drift? An old boss of mine once described meetings as “gatherings where minutes are taken and hours are wasted”. Don’t let this happen, all work time is precious and should be productive. “time is money”

I recently attended a factory meeting in China. The purpose of the meeting was to sign off and approve a range of products which we were supplying to a major retailer. Asian meetings tend to drift. Firstly there are language and cultural issues, but there is also the problem of the ubiquitous mobile phone. A lot of Chinese have more than one cell phone and they take them everywhere. No sooner has a topic been started than a phone ( or two ) rings and the whole meeting comes to a grinding halt while they take the call. Time was limited, I had a flight to catch. The factory manufactures wire baskets, so I casually picked up a basket and took it to the meeting table. I then asked everyone present to place their phones into the basket which I then placed in a distant corner of the showroom. The meeting was over in no time and all items were signed off and are now selling well making good margins for all concerned. I caught my flight.

Pre cell phones, I used to chair a daily production meeting at a manufacturing site in the uk. I “inherited” the meeting from my predecessor. The first two days people drifted in five, ten, fifteen minutes late. Everyone slouched in the comfortable chairs in my office (the chances to sit down on the shop floor were limited), most people brought mugs of tea or coffee. The first two meetings took over an hour and achieved little. From the third meeting onwards I banned drinks, removed the chairs and locked the door when the meeting was due to start. Meeting times were reduced to 20 minutes max, anyone who was late spent their own time catching up and production and order fulfilment levels jumped whilst inventory levels dropped. From day 4 onwards everyone was on time.

Stay in the “now”. Phone calls can wait. Meetings are a necessary evil. Make them productive. Ensure everyone is focused on the task in hand, don’t waste colleagues time or insult them by being late or distracted. Time is money!