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你有没有停下来想一下你花了多少时间在会议上？会议开的有效率的话，可以对你帮助特别大，但很常见的是会议往往以效率低下而精疲力尽而收场。我亲自体验过这
2
种类型的会议，并指导了许多花费大量时间参加会议的高级管理人员，我结合了
Getting Things Done
（
GTD
）方法论中的一些实用技巧，这些技巧能有助于被效率低下的会议所困扰的人群。
对于大多数人来说，可信系统是他们的日历。如果拿走它，他们会迷路。然而，这很快变成了这样一种综合症：“当你拥有的只是一把锤子时，一切看起来都像钉子。”因此，“会议文化”诞生于一个组织中，为了能感觉将项目或建议处于掌控下，无穷无尽的会议被记录在所有相关人员的日历中。
有一个更好的办法。使用
GTD
项目和下步行动列表来管理每个重要环节，这能使您可以管理团队的成果，而不必将每个人绑起来，重复参加会议。更进一步，议程清单可用于建立讨论的临时项目，按人分组，这避免了“伏击式”综合症以及形式化的会议。
简而言之，当您拥有一个完整的
GTD
工具包时，会议只是一种选择，当人们找到其他更合适的方法来管理他们的结果时，他们通常会自然地开始减少他们发起的会议数量。
也就是说，会议能因为大家都聚集在一起而建立起一种信任，能建立关系以及相互提醒。这也可以很好地汇集团队的智慧，预先发现计划中的差距，提供关键的专业知识，并帮助每个人感到参与感和协调。
为了实现这一点，首先应清楚明确地说明每次会议的预期结果。正如苏格拉底曾经说过的那样，“未经审查的会议不值得参加。”当然，不完全是这样，但很接近。
明确会议的意图有时会很显然的发现也许没有必要开会。只是为了提供进展吗？也许这能以更省时的方式处理。事实上，有人会打印出蓝色的缎带，上面写着“我在另个会议中幸存下来了，而它本应该是电子邮件就能解决的。”这就是为什么没有人喜欢在城市里穿梭或者播着有难听的等候音乐的话，而为的只是得到一个进展的告知。
除了可怕的进展更新之外，还有那种仅仅为了辩论和讨论，或政治姿态的会议。即使是一些所谓的“工作会话”也可以通过适当的通信方式来处理。
设定明确的预期结果是避免不必要的会议并确保您在会议室中拥有合适的人员，专注于解决必要问题的关键一步。接下来的关键行为是在会议的最后十分钟内问：“那么，谁会负责下步行动？”这会将谈话降低到可执行的水平，并确保在开完会后会有所进展。它保证会议最终不仅仅是一次愉快的聊天。
回顾一下，您可以对会议做些什么？首先，学习使用完整的
GTD
工具包来管理结果，这样您就可以坦率地将会议数量最小化。当你开会时，考虑鼓励高阶行为，例如汇集团队智慧以发现项目计划中的差距，而不是让每个人聚在一起听大声朗读报告。明确会议的目的。最后，花时间询问各位将要执行的项目和下步行动。
知道何时召集会议，以及如何使会议最有效，是一门艺术。使用更广泛的
GTD
工具可以为调色板添加新颜色。
5 Minutes Reading
Top Tips to Avoid Meeting Burnout
Have you ever stopped to think how much ofyour life you spend in meetings? Done well, they can be incredibly powerful,but very often they end up being inefficient and a drain. Having both attended countlessmeetings myself, and coached many senior executives who spend a large amount oftheir time in meetings, I have compiled some practical tips within the GettingThings Done (GTD) methodology that should help avoid that horrid feeling thatcomes from being trapped in yet another pointless meeting.
For most people, their one trusted systemis their calendar. Take it away, and they’d be lost. Yet this quickly turnsinto the syndrome that, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like anail.” Thus “meeting culture” is born in an organisation—where in order to feelon top of a project or initiative, endless “check-in” meetings are booked intothe diaries of everyone involved.
There is a better way. Using the GTDproject and next action lists to manage the critical components of aninitiative allows you to manage a team to outcomes without necessarily tying upeveryone involved in repetitive real-time meetings. Going further, the agendaslist can be used to build ad-hoc items for discussion, grouped by person, whichavoids the “ambush in the elevator” syndrome as well as, often, the need for aformalised and scheduled meeting.
In short, when you have a full tool kit ofGTD, meetings become just one option, and people often naturally start to reducethe number of meetings they initiate when they find other, more appropriatemeans to managing their outcomes.
That said, meetings can be very powerfulfor the “human factor” of coming together to establish trust, buildrelationships, and remind one another that we are all in this together. Thiscan also be brilliant for pooling the wisdom of the group to spot gaps in aplan up-front, offer key expertise, and help everyone to feel engaged andaligned.
To make that possible, first be clear andexplicit about the intended outcome of each meeting. As Socrates once said,“The unexamined meeting is not worth attending.” Well, not really—butclose.
Getting clear about the intent of a meetingsometimes makes it evident that a meeting is not the best approach. Is thepoint just to give an update? Maybe that would be better handled in a lesstime-intensive way. In fact, one cheeky individual has printed blue ribbonsthat say “I survived yet another meeting that should have been an email.”That’s how little anyone likes commuting across town or dialling into thatconference bridge with the annoying hold music just to hear someone read out astatus update.
Other lower-order meeting behavioursbesides the dreaded status update include debate and discussion just for the sakeof it, or political posturing. Even some so-called “working sessions” couldhave been better handled separately with good asynchronous communicationparameters in place.
Setting a clear desired outcome is acritical first step to both avoiding unnecessary meetings and making sure thatyou have the right people in the room, focused on solving the right problems.The next key behaviour is to take the last ten minutes of the meeting to ask,“So, who is taking away what projects and next actions as a result of thismeeting?” It will bring the conversation down to the actionable level, andensure that changes get made outside the meeting room. It guarantees that themeeting ends up being more than just a nice conversation.
To recap—what can you do about meetings?First and foremost, learn to manage outcomes with a complete GTD tool kit, sothat you can quite frankly minimise them. When you do have them, think aboutencouraging higher-order behaviours such as pooling the group wisdom to spotgaps in a project plan, rather than getting everyone together to hear an updateread aloud. Be clear about the purpose of the meeting. At the end, take thetime to ask what projects and next actions people are going to take away.
Knowing when to call a meeting, and how tomake it most effective, is an art. Using a wider range of GTD tools can add newcolours to your palette.
