There’s [a] group of people who are scheduled in back-to-back sessions all day long, every day of the week. I speak, of course, of students. All the way through school we’re taught in 50-minute blocks, a schedule that lets us get to our next class on time. The buildings even have bells to remind the person running the meeting, er, class, to end on time.
Why is it, then, that when we graduate, they take away our bells, replace them with an irritating “doink” sound signaling “15 minutes until your next meeting” and assume we can now teleport to the location of same? What could cause such madness? In two words: Microsoft Outlook…
By default, Outlook sets up meetings that are 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes long. There’s no room for “travel time,” a few minutes to compose yourself and answer a couple of emails, or even a moment in the “little business persons’ room…”
Next time you’re faced with scheduling a meeting, consider booking a 20-minute or 50-minute session. See what you can accomplish in that time, and if you can still get to your next meeting. You may just start a new trend in your organization.
“The 50-Minute Meeting,” Harvard Business Review. August 6, 2009 as quoted in HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter. Harvard Business Review Press. 2016.
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