How to Have a 20 Minute Meeting

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

How to Have a 20 Minute Meeting

Since launching Ohours, I’ve been enjoying hearing from hosts and attendees alike about their experiences.

It’s been nothing short of inspiring.

One of the areas in which I find people most having “issues” is figuring out what the right length of time is for their Ohours “slots.”

I’m a big fan of the 20 minute Ohours slots, but you have to be well practiced to make the most out of them, so here are a few tips I’ve picked up over the past few years to help you do 20 min meetings correctly:

Get to their Point

You have a meeting and the first thing you want to do is start with small-talk, right? Who you connections are; the traffic or weather for the day; how much you love the cafe where you’re hosting or attending your Ohours (or even how much you love Ohours ;)

Usually being upfront and asking people to “get to the point” is considered rude. But when you’ve set up 20 minute slots and they’ve signed up for them, you’ve already signed a social contract that allows you to help people make the most of your time together.

By immediately diving into the meat of your Ohours, you’ll have plenty of time to cover everything on the attendee’s agenda, and everyone will walk away satisfied.

Simply put, just diving in is both respectful and helpful. Of course it helps if you explain yourself, so first order of business is setting the ground rules.

First Order of Business: The Ground Rules

Well, since you’ve already decided to Get to the Point, the first order of business is laying out on the table how your attendee can get the most of your time together.

I start by reminding people that we don’t have to cover everything in the 20 short minutes we have together. I make it clear that I’m available for follow-up emails and Skype on any of the points we cover in the Ohours session, and that today is about getting to know one another and diving in on a few of the topics they really want to cover.

Using Ohours and then inviting people to schedule more time with you may seem counter-intuitive if, like me, you’re first drawn to the platform as a way to meet more people and shorten your meetings.

However, the dirty little secret is is that most people don’t follow up.

If you use your 20 minutes effectively, usually you can cover everything the attendee is looking for, and only sometimes people follow up on the meeting really requiring more time (though incredibly so many people follow up saying “thanks” and sending updates).

Meet in the Open

The last thing that helps run a 20 minute meeting is meeting out in the open, like at a cafe or public space in your office. This way, you can see when other people start arriving for their slots, and you 1) can remind yourself of the time, and 2) it contextualizes your need to wrap up the conversation.

The “O” in Ohours is more about being Open than being in an Office. Aside from the time management benefits, meeting in the Open displays an important energy that’s created when two or more people get together to share ideas.

Thanks for using Ohours. I hope this post helps you make the most of it.