How to Effectively Build Pre-Work into Meetings
It’s no secret that the term “prep work” evokes groans, eye rolls, and even — in that all-too-familiar moment of realizing you haven’t done the prep work — a sense of impending doom. For this reason, and because the preparatory work is so often neglected, many executives have given up this practice. It doesn’t have to be like this. By embedding groundwork in meetings and spending the first five to 20 minutes of participants silently reviewing a carefully prepared, action-oriented document, leaders can reinvent not only the concept of groundwork, but the way teams come together . The author presents five tips for adopting the practice.
You close a meeting and look for the Zoom link for the next one. You sigh in relief as you click Join just in time. But that feeling is short-lived as you realize you’ve missed the necessary groundwork: reading a document, reviewing a contract, or answering a few key questions that should form the basis of the conversation.
It’s no secret that the term “preparatory work” evokes groans, eye rolls, and even – in that all-too-familiar moment of realization – a sense of impending doom. For this reason, and because the preparatory work is so often neglected, many executives I know have given up the practice.
It doesn’t have to be like this. By embedding groundwork in meetings and spending the first five to 20 minutes of participants silently reviewing a carefully prepared, action-oriented document, leaders can reinvent not only the concept of groundwork, but the way teams come together .
Break through the skepticism
When I first propose the concept of setting aside meeting time for reviewing preliminary work, many mistakenly assume that this will result in longer meetings. That will not do.
Yes, employees already suffer from meeting overload. According to recent research, 70% of meetings prevent employees from completing all other work tasks. With this in mind, and to better understand the practice, I recently reached out to a number of people who set aside time for meetings to allow participants to review preliminary work in parallel. Almost everyone I interviewed said their meetings were running out. Instead, they are more focused.
Alignment around a common document ensures everyone is on the same page — literally and figuratively — when the discussion begins. No time is wasted updating people who haven’t already done the groundwork, or uncovering the inevitable questions that are easily predictable and answerable in writing. It is equally important that the time of those who do come prepared is not devalued.
Instead of spending time warming up, debriefing, and otherwise dwelling on the past, team members can devote their precious time together to present and future verbs: decide. Poll. Relay a message. Authorize. A busy meeting tends to be a productive meeting.
Put the burden on the leader of the meeting
Creating a document that is thorough, thoughtful, and concise enough to share with a team is indeed extra work for the meeting chair. That’s appropriate. Especially when employees suffer from meeting glut, the person responsible for assembling a group should have a clear idea of what they want to get out of the meeting.
At a time when 11.2 million jobs remain unfilled across the US, it is critical for leaders to maximize their organization’s talent does to have. When a meeting leader invests their own time in preparing a document, they sharpen and clarify the purpose of the meeting and subsequently maximize what can be accomplished.
Think of the purpose as a gatekeeper stationed at the metaphorical entrance of each meeting when the organizer arrives. If the organizer doesn’t have a clear goal, they might want to reconsider whether it’s worth taking the time. Embedded prework is a mechanism for purpose-driven meetings.
The company that has most notably embraced embedded groundwork is Amazon, where the first few minutes of each meeting (or even the first 30+ minutes) is spent reviewing a memo that forms the basis of that hour’s discussion becomes.
As Amazon founder Jeff Bezos explained, the memos are intended to “create the context for a good discussion.” He added, “By the way, the reason we’re reading them in the room is because executives, just like high school kids, are bluffing their way through the meeting like they’ve read the memo. Because we’re busy and you need to take the time to read the memo.”
Memos aren’t just for executives. My recent conversations with those who regularly embed prework into meetings have included a number of Amazon team members. Everyone said it was unusual to attend a company meeting that didn’t begin with at least a few moments of silent reading through memos.
“We write because it helps us clear our minds,” said one employee, a technical consultant who works in Human Resources. “The person who called the meeting thought about it and collected the right data. This allows us to jump right in at the beginning of the conversation and start solving the problems.”
How to create a pre-work memo
Even for those who believe in the benefits of this practice, it can be difficult to adopt. Here are some tips to get you started:
1. Break it up.
In the business world, many people are more comfortable with PowerPoint documents than with long writing. While it may seem condescending to train employees in the art of writing embedded memos before they go to work, it can be very helpful.
Amazon has a guidance document that specifies everything from font size to margins. This level of detail may be excessive for many organizations, but as best practices emerge, it makes sense to codify them.
2. Add an interactive component.
One way to stimulate discussion after a period of silent memo reading is to invite everyone to contribute their thoughts, questions, and observations into a collaborative document. Google Docs, word clouds or Mentimeter surveys are helpful tools.
3. Explain the rationale.
People don’t like to jump through hoops unnecessarily. It’s important to ensure teams understand that the purpose of this exercise is not to create more work or lengthen meetings. If anything, the practice should result in fewer meetings where more is accomplished.
4. Pair them up.
When participants work in pairs on preparatory materials, they may focus more on the written materials. Each pair’s initial conversations can give the group a head start in the brainstorming process.
5. Print it out.
Some people record material faster and more effectively if they have a printed copy that they can mark up with pen and paper. For face-to-face meetings, consider printing out a few copies of the preparatory work ahead of time for participants who will find the material easier to absorb when they can hold it in their hands.
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By establishing a culture of embedded groundwork and communicating the reasons for this change, leaders are signaling that they value their employees’ time—and by extension, that they value their employees. And when groups of employees gather, that precious time becomes even more valuable.