Meetings account for a lot of time in business environments. A single weekly meeting among executives 
might only account for a hundred or so hours a year for each person with a chair at the table, but calculating the total time spent on meeting purposes often generates a larger number. In a breakdown that includes time spent supporting such a meeting throughout an organization, the Harvard Business Review shows how meetings can eat thousands – even hundreds of thousands – of productive hours. One key to boosting productivity is to use the EOS system's Level 10 agenda when approaching weekly meetings.
The First part- Updates
Use the first half hour of a meeting to share what is going on and set up the production of the second part of the meeting. Keep things on point – each person shares quickly and without the team discussing each item in-depth.
Good News Sharing – 5 minutes
Start every meeting on a positive note by inviting each person to share something good. Have each person share a good piece of both personal and business news; business wins are everyone’s, and sharing personal good news helps the team increase interpersonal relationships.
Reporting – 15 minutes
For the next 15 minutes, report on the state of the business’s three most important items. The short report should include a metric – are the numbers on track? Compare the current state to the quarterly goals – is the business on track to meet those goals? What is the satisfaction level of both customers and employees?
To-Do Review – 5 minutes
Before moving into the solving section of the meeting, take a moment to review the to-do list from last meeting’s minutes. What was resolved, and what is still on the table? Each week, you want to see at least 90 percent of items fall off the list to make room for next steps or challenges. If items aren’t falling off the list, the responsible parties must be held accountable.
The Final Hour – Solving the Issues
During the last part of the meeting, which should take approximately 60 minutes, work on solving issues that were pointed out in the reporting and to-do review periods of the meeting, as well as issues that relate to people management and rocks for the quarter or year. Instead of solving all the problems, choose the three most important issues and use the Issues Solving Track, or IDS, to agree on a solution. After a solution has be decided, you then issues out “TO-Do’s” and get the issue solved once and forever!
Wrap-Up
Conclude the meeting with a five-minute session that does three things. First, decide as a group if any communication related to the meeting, solutions, or decisions needs to cascade down the organization. Next, recap to-do items so everyone knows what they are responsible for. Finally, rate the meeting on a scale from 1 to 10.
When meetings are rated low, teams know they need to work on EOS and meeting approaches. If you apply the Level 10 approach and still have trouble creating effective meetings, consider bringing in a small business coach called a Certified EOS Implementer to facilitate efficiency and productivity in your meetings.
