Meetings eat up your work week. Don’t be surprised if you have so many meetings that you don’t have time do the actual work that will move things forward.
Meetings without an agenda and a pre-read fill many lobbyists’ agendas. They are often internal meetings.
I’ve learned to avoid them. See how below. It allows me to focus on why I enjoy being a lobbyist: solving problems for clients.
Taking up that limited amount of working time without rhyme or reason – as I see a meeting without an agenda and pre-read – is akin to a personal insult.
Necessary meetings
There are three types of meetings you want to take:
1. Come to a decision
2. Get clarity on where things are at
3. Agree who does what /when
Unnecessary meetings
A lot of meetings are unnecessary, including:
1. Sharing information
2. Gossiping/complaining
3. Have a meeting to plan for a meeting
4. Understand how something works
How to save time and increase value – Pre-Reads
Even for the first group of meetings, the necessary ones, a lot of time can be shaved, and value added, if a pre-read is circulated well in advance that provides the information that the participants will need to come to a decision, provide clarity on the options, update on the state of play, and make suggestions on who does what and when.
The pre-read will help everyone in the meeting get up to the appropriate level of knowledge before they meet.
If there are any questions people have, they can ask ahead of time.
Questions on clarity usually come down to one of the following questions:
1. Where is the proposal/initiative?
2. What/who is driving it?
3. What is the procedure – ordinary legislation or secondary legislation – and maybe some obscure procedural questions?
4. What should we do: what information should be bring to the table, who has that information; who should meet whom and when; what are other people doing/saying?
All these questions are likely to be addressed in the pre-read. The questions are so standard for nearly all organizations and can easily be addressed ahead of time.
This is a good chance to draw on your rich depository of SOP/Checklists/Case studies on similar legislative/policy/regulatory initiatives. Those precedents will shed a lot of light on what is likely to happen on the issue at hand.
A lot of the unnecessary meetings can be removed from your agenda by a simple document sharing. The document sharing will resolve understanding where something is at or understanding how something works.
Meetings for complaining / gripping should be avoided. And, the only meetings worth going to are the first type.
Timing
A pre-read needs to be sent in advance. As a rule of thumb, for a complex discussion, 10-14 days before makes sense, and for a regular update, 1-2 days before.
For internal meetings
There are better ways to share feedback and that is via loom. The feedback is faster and more actionable.
On a Sunday afternoon, I review my week ahead. If there is an internal meeting with no agenda and pre-read, I presume I’m not needed, and delete the agenda.
Meetings with Clients
Send the agenda and pre-read in advance of the meeting. Give the client reasonable time to read a short update. 48 hours seems fair.
If you are not clear what the meeting is about, check in a few days before hand. If you are unclear what they want for the meeting, check.
If you are giving a presentation, send it to them 48 hours before, and maybe add a short explanatory loom video.
Maybe the pre-read and loom video answers all the questions they have and the meeting can be cancelled. Both sides a going to gain an hour or more from their week.
I know nobody who is going to be upset by gaining an extra hour of their week.
Meeting with officials and politicians
For pre-reads for a meeting with an official or politician, 10-14 days in advance. You are likely having a meeting with them to:
1. Get a decision to see if they back your case, oppose you, or won’t step in.
2. Get clarity on how they see your issue.
3. Get intelligence on what is really driving the agenda/positions
Sharing in advance allows the official/politician check internally where the issue is, what the official line is, and what options exist.
Turning up to without preparation, to just share ‘your point of view’ on your case/issue is not an ideal use of the official/politician’s time.
A senior official or politician do not just not work on just on a singular issue. As few people have ‘perfect recall’, they may need to do some asking around to see where things stand. As a rule of thumb, your 45-60 minute conversation will take at least 10 times as much time in pre-briefings and checking. What you think is 45-60 minutes out of someone’s agenda is more likely 10 hours of preparation and follow up.
If their colleagues are implicitly or explicitly criticized, they’ll likely go into default protect the institution/political group line. You will get nothing positive from the meeting.
What to do Before and After A Meeting
Set aside time to prepare for your meeting. Block a slot in your agenda.
For regular meetings, my checklist includes: follow up from to dos from last meeting, questions in advance answered, any changes from pre-read.
Also schedule time for follow up. For a regular meeting, I set aside 15-30 minutes to get the immediate follow up points done, e.g. short minutes/action points.
Don’t leave this for a few days in the future. Your memory is not that good.
For meetings with officials/politicians, get the follow up done on the same or next day. Send them a short summary of the meeting, and any agreed action points/information you committed to provide.