Entrepreneurship

Here's why billionaire investor Mark Cuban 'hates' meetings

Updated : April 02, 2019 06:55 AM IST

Be more proactive in setting the agenda and in providing the required information pertaining to it to your members before the meeting. If they need to make a decision, they need the information ahead of the time. So be sure to send documents, reports etc in advance.

When people are assigned tasks, they are accountable for delivering or carrying out the task and they should be approached to check on the progress of the task and not the whole group.

Here's why billionaire investor Mark Cuban 'hates' meetings

Tech billionaire and "Shark" investor Mark Cuban says he hates meetings.

And here's the reason why: "Think about the last meeting you held. Add up the hourly rates of everyone in the room. Then factor in the opportunity cost for what every person could have been achieving instead of sitting in that room. Then factor in what you could have been doing."

So when you actually hold a meeting, to make decisions, set expectations, assign responsibility - in short when the meeting has a true purpose, remember to keep these things in mind:

The human brain has a tendency to think in round numbers and most meetings are set up in 30- or 60-minute chunks and we are programmed to expect things to start and end at a certain time.

Even if you only need 10 minutes to finish off a meeting, you cannot really do it as you have scheduled it for 30 minutes. And then there is always the 'just in case' factor. We'll already have everyone together, so let's schedule a little extra time, just in case.

Instead, try and decide how long a meeting should last solely on the basis of what you need to accomplish. No fluff. No 'just in case' attitude. And inform everyone that the meeting will end on time, no matter what and stick to it.

It will be tough in the beginning but eventually, people will adapt to the change and be more focussed and productive.

Be more proactive in setting the agenda and in providing the required information pertaining to it to your members before the meeting. If they need to make a decision, they need the information ahead of time. So be sure to send documents, reports etc in advance.

Holding a meeting to share information is unproductive and wastes everyone's time.

If anyone in the meeting says, "I'm just thinking out loud," cut them midway. Participants are expected to come prepared to the meeting with the information provided to them in advance. Except when it's a brainstorming session.

"Don't let people muse aloud about the half-baked concepts they want to share just because they feel they have to participate, or because they want to seem smart."

Great meetings result in great decisions. So holding accountability is important and a decision is not a decision if it has not been carried out.

"Never let ownership be fuzzy or unclear. An action item without a clear owner is like an orphan -- it's someone else's responsibility."

Recaps of a meeting should only include the action items such as, what was discussed, what was decided, when it will be done and who is responsible for carrying out the task.

When people are assigned tasks, they are accountable for delivering or carrying out the task and they should be approached to check on the progress of the task and not the whole group.

"If you like, the people responsible can send progress emails to the rest of the group. But don't get the group together just so everyone else can hear about what's been done."

Meet again when a further decision needs to be made regarding the same or when you have to celebrate the success upon the completion of the task.

Mark Cuban said, "Great business relationships are created when people work together toward a common goal and are able to count on one another to do their part, meet commitments, get things done -- in short, to produce tangible outcomes and achieve meaningful goals. Otherwise, the relationship is more interpersonal than productive."

As a team leader or the head of an organisation, it is your job to build a productive team and let your employees establish an interpersonal relationship on their own time.

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