Here is another classic situation I have faced when working with large corporations. Imagine there is a topic that requires an assessment from multiple points of view. For example, there is a new application that will serve the needs of multiple departments. In order for it to be implemented successfully, the project would require inputs from numerous stakeholders representing those departments. Also, we may need inputs and approvals from technical teams –networking, database, security, etc.
So here we are, in a meeting with multiple business and technical stakeholders. The meeting is booked for 1hour. 10 minutes into the meeting, the discussion hits an important topic. Then someone says, “Let’s take this one offline”, which means another dedicated meeting must be booked. 5 minutes later, another team member suggests to “take offline” another item and the same situation happens yet again 2 minutes later.
In the end, the meeting lasts 20 minutes instead of 1 hour, and instead of making the important decisions that day, we have 3 action items (to book 3 separate meetings). Then it takes days (if not weeks) to bring people together for those separate sessions.
The “take offline” comment is typically motivated by an inconvenience of discussing a “narrow” topic while a wider audience is in attendance. However, would it not be more practical to have some people idle for a few minutes, yet to have all 3 topics covered in that same call given that 1 hour of their time had already been booked, and the required attendees were already there? After all, everyone’s time would actually be used more efficiently in this case, and weeks of precious project time could be saved.
Here is another example of a typical communication time waste. James is a subject matter expert. He is very busy, and it is not easy to book his time. George has a question for James. So instead of picking up the phone and asking a question, he sends James an email. Instead of asking his question in the email, he asks James if he would be available for a meeting to answer his question. Assuming that James sees his email and responds positively, George asks James to provide his availability, because James’s calendar is fully booked. Assuming James is very responsive, he gets a time slot for 2 weeks later. Then George books a meeting with James, and if everything goes well and both of them are available, they show up for this meeting and George asks James his question.
What a waste, isn’t it? – 2 weeks of wait compared to a 2-minute call.
So, my advice to project managers is:
1) Always assess the urgency of your topics – address them right here and right now if your meeting time permits
2) When booking meetings, consider the risks of non-attendance – there could be multiple reasons why the person you expect to see will not show up
3) Consider your communication channels for better efficiency (a phone call or a text message versus a conference call or an in-person meeting)
Sometimes a casual phone call could save you weeks of lag time, and in many cases it could even save your project.