Guide to Effective Creative Meetings
In the super fast-paced world of design and architecture, effective creative meetings are crucial to driving projects forward and keeping on top of those late working nights. Everyone has their own ways work working, but the goal is always the same: reduce the time in meetings. Fewer people, in fewer meetings of a shorter length gets you more time for creativity, and makes you more profitable. Here’s how to maximise their impact:
1. Prepare in Advance
The more organised you are, the better the outcome. Since every meeting starts the same way, there’s some tricks you can do to cut corners. First things first: getting everyone up to speed. Context is important for making the right decisions, but you don’t need to spend precious minutes at the start of meeting to do it. Share the agenda, background information, and any relevant documents ahead of time. This allows participants to come prepared with insights and ideas, reducing the need for lengthy explanations during the meeting. Now, there is a trap here – people are busy, and they might not read the pre-shared material. Jeff Bezos from Amazon famously created the 6-page memo to deal with this context-setting problem. Find the way that works best for your organisation.
2. Keep Better Notes of the Discussion
Creative design discussions are complex. There’s the reasoning behind the current design and the opinions as to why others thing it should change. Assign a dedicated note-taker or use a collaborative tool to capture key points, decisions, and action items. Record the audio and transcribe the meeting for easy searching later on. Clear and concise notes aren’t just important for project hygiene, they help prevent misunderstandings and accountability for future work. Nothing says “change request” better than quoting the client 3 months prior.
3. Cut out the Live Editing time
Those moments when everyone crowds around a computer while one person directs and another makes live creative edits is precious minutes down the drain. Updating designs or documents during a meeting slow’s down productivity and leads to disengagement and distractions. Instead, gather feedback during the meeting, capture that feedback in your new-and-improved detailed notes, and make the updates offline. This allows for more considered revisions resulting in better designs, and avoids the pressure of making changes on the spot.
4. Think Asynchronous
Synchronising everyone’s schedules for a meeting can be challenging. When you can’t find availability, meetings are pushed-back. Delays occur, profitability drops, and cashflow becomes more of a challenge. Switch mindset and consider asynchronous meetings where participants contribute their thoughts and feedback at their convenience. This approach not only saves time but also allows for more thoughtful input, free from the constraints of a live discussion. Experiment is deadlines for feedback or tools for collecting feedback in different ways.
Conclusion: Protect Your Time
Your time is this more valuable resource you have. Change the way you work to protect it at all costs. By preparing in advance, keeping detailed notes, avoiding live updates, and embracing asynchronous meetings, you can save time otherwise spent waiting for edits, listening to others or coordinating schedules.
Now you’ve got all that time back. How do you choose to spend it?
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