Tag Archives: Meetings

Meetings Archive

Value Proposition for the Expensive Meeting

– August 30, 2010Posted in: Project Management

I got a lot of feedback from people after they read of my $17,902 meeting post. I spoke to a few others in my office and they all agreed that the number sounded plausible. As I’m writing my proposal for corrective action, I will deliver it in the form of a value proposition.

A value proposition is an analysis and quantified review of the benefits, costs and value that “something” an organization can deliver to customers and other constituent groups within and outside of the organization. It is also a positioning of value, where Value = Benefits / Cost (cost includes risk). (Thank you Wikipedia for basis of that definition)

But, it’s not as simple deliverable.

I use 7 stages of analysis.

Customer or market – Who am I creating the value proposition for?
Customer or market value – What do they say they value? (not what I say they value)
Offering – What is the product or service being proposed?
Benefits – What are the benefits? (Time, Money, Productivity,…)
Alternatives – What substitutes or alternatives are there? (like doing nothing)
Differentiation – How is my proposal different from anything else being offered?
Proof - What evidence do I have that I can do what you say?

In this case, I’m going to request a formal review of the Communications Plan, modifying it if necessary. Because this is a status meeting (which is about reporting by one-way communication) not everyone needs to be there in person. Before I go deep into my analysis, I’m going to bet I can apply the Pareto principle (80-20 rule) to get my point across.

If we do not devalue the benefit of the meeting, we can increase the overall value by decreasing cost. That decreasing of cost, I would propose, would be asking 32 out of the 40 people to not attend the meeting in person. By having 8 key linchpins (as defined by Seth Godin) attend this meeting, we could ensure the status is delivered and the message is not lost.

Other indirect communication methods could be used to ensure the information is distributed. The slide deck and meeting minutes could be posted to a central location, allowing those who didn’t attend the meeting in person to know what happened. Whatever the final outcome, there is a big opportunity for cost savings.

Graphic: Pictofigo

Expense of Meetings

Derek Huether

– August 26, 2010Posted in: Project Management

I just came from a monthly meeting, scheduled to last 2.5 hours. I counted 40 people in the room, ranging from administrative assistants to top executives. I wanted to do an unscientific estimate of the cost of the meeting. I used Meetordie (meet or die) to arrive at my total. (Thank you to Deanne Earle of Unlike Before for telling me of the site) I plugged in a few simple values and… the meeting had an estimated cost of $17,904. The information provided by the vendor, from my perspective, was not worth nearly $18,000. Please realize this is a required monthly meeting.

The slide deck was distributed to everyone on the project via email, allowing them to review the materials at their leisure. They do need to be kept informed. But, instead of going about their day, many who received the slide deck came to the meeting. We all sat in a room as the vendor read from the slides. Now, this was no Steve Jobs keynote address. The vendor pretty much read word-for-word off the slides.

Just because the vendor may be contractually obligated to have this meeting, they should propose an alternative to what they’re doing. There either needs to be more value or less cost associated with this meeting.

Thoughts or comments?

Graphic: Pictofigo

Popularity: 1%

Tags: Meetings, Pictofigo

Building on failure and action versus motion

Derek Huether

– August 11, 2010Posted in: Project Management

I just listened to the 37signals podcast. It was a playback of some of the brainstorming sessions leading up to the release of the book REWORK. For those who don’t know me, I’m a complete 37signals fanboy. They just “get it”. I don’t know if it’s their no BS approach to business or that they have great products. But, I’ve found many of the things they created, do, and say helpful in multiple areas. It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur or a project manager. They have something for everyone.

There were two things from the book I wanted to note today. First, they talked about building on failure versus building on success. My takeaway is if you want to reach a goal (insert your project or product here), it is easier for you to build upon small successes than to fail and start over. Example: When you’re [creating] an [product] for a customer, wouldn’t you rather deliver small chucks and get acceptance from the customer along the way, rather than offer a big reveal at the end and risk delivering something they don’t want? If you fail, you have to start all over. Out of a million possibilities, you’ve narrowed it down by ONE. I agree with the PDCA approach (Deming cycle). You should refine, deliver, refine, deliver. Don’t forget to deliver. If you get something 99% done, you still have nothing. Deliver something (regardless how small), get acceptance, and repeat.

The Second thing I wanted to note from the podcast was the mention of an Ernest Hemingway quote

Never mistake motion for action

Things don’t have to be hard. If your business [process] requires you to do wasteful (time or money) things, don’t do them! You should be doing things because they provide value (save time/money or make money). The rest is just fat and you need to trim the fat from every business [process]. Make your [processes or products] as lean as you can without hitting the bone. Only then can you have a good baseline. Only then can you build on top of something. Anything beyond that and you may be wasting time and money compensating.

Do something because you need to do it. Don’t do it because you feel obligated. Do you need to go to that next meeting because there is valuable information being communicated? Or rather, if you don’t go it will give the impression that you’re being antisocial? Meetings are perfect examples of an crime perpetrated by people that don’t have enough actual work to do or those to feel obligated by people that don’t have enough real work to do.

You know why I don’t check my email every 5 minutes? Because I have things I need to get done for the customer! Sending me pictures of LOLcats is not going to help me get that work done. Equally, expecting me to respond to that email within an hour of you sending it just reinforces the fact that you have more time on your hands than me.

Image courtesy Flikr: Travis S.

Popularity: 1%

Tags: 37Signals, Action, Iterate, Lean, Meetings, PDCA, Purpose, Time

I won’t be staying late with you

Derek Huether

– August 2, 2010Posted in: Project Management, Video

I have to again give credit to 37signals. In their book Rework, they pointed out the 800 pound gorilla in the room, over and over again. This video is a “gorilla” I’ve been dealing with for the last 15 years.

I usually arrive at the office around 06:30 or 07:00 (2 hours before anyone else). Why? I’ll probably get more done in those 2 first hours than I will the rest of the day. Though I only check my email at the top of each hour, I still deal with meetings and people “dropping by” to ask me questions or to tell me about the newest restaurant in their neighborhood. Interruptions mean you don’t get work done. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make your customer happy. I’m saying you should be able to get it done without working late.

Tell me if this sounds familiar. Some of your co-workers show up at the office around 09:00 (closer to 09:30) and then take a 1.5 to 2 hour lunch break. They then don’t understand why you turn down meeting requests scheduled for late in the afternoon or don’t respond to emails sent to you after business hours. Just because someone is unable to manage his or her work, I am not going to feel guilty for not working late. Before I had a family or understood work-life balance, I didn’t hesitate pulling an all-nighter at the office. Now it just looks like poor time management.

So, are you working late tonight? Do you really have work you need to do are are you just trying to make yourself feel better by creating work for yourself? I’ll make you a deal. Drink your preferred caffeinated beverage around 05:00 and get to the office no later than 07:00. You’ll probably have the most productive day you’ve had in months.

Popularity: 1%

Tags: 37Signals, Meetings, Rant, Time, Video

The painful reality of many meetings

Derek Huether

– July 23, 2010Posted in: Project Management

I’m rereading (listening) to Rework for the 3rd time. It’s been about a month since I last absorbed this artfully crafted piece of wisdom from Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson of 37Signals. People who read my blog know that I hate meetings. I’m ok with the 5 minute stand-ups. I’m ok with the 22 minute meeting, when necessary.

The painful reality is one poorly organized meeting can suck more time and energy than a week of good meetings. How many meetings do you go to in a week? Do you really need to be there? Is there a published goal-based agenda? Not going to meetings is like not watching CNN for a week. If it’s really important, someone will tell you the news. Otherwise, you find yourself commonly hearing the same old thing over and over again. Your time is more valuable than that. Go do something else.

Popularity: 1%

Tags: Meetings