5. Set a day....that makes the most sense.  

It may seem like common sense, but sometimes we can spend just enough time thinking about a meeting that we set the wrong day of the week for it.  What happens is all too frequent and all too frustrating.  The meeting day approaches and a few people have an epiphany: "Hey, that day won't work because...."  Take a little more time to process this step, even though it may not seem that important.  Here are some helpful thoughts I've developed from other wise people and from my own failures.

• ...it follows a series of days or activities that can be reviewed and assessed.  If you have a meeting and there is not enough information to review or assess, then you will end up hypothesizing, guessing, and making decisions which will find their way back to the agenda later on to correct, costing the company time and money.
• ...the meeting precedes days and events that can be accomplished more effectively after a meeting. If you have a meeting and there is not enough time after the meeting in the following days to actually accomplish and/or implement what you decided to do, then nothing in the meeting will actually get done.  Ever been a part of meetings like that, where you leave knowing that most of what you just talked about will never actually amount to anything?

This will probably require a meeting in and of itself with your team to figure out what their schedules normally look like.  If you're a manager or business owner, gather your team and present to them the two bullet-pointed items above.  Then ask them to ponder and discuss what day or days of the week will actually be the most strategic for a meeting.  Follow suit by asking supervisors or department managers to have the same kind of meeting with their team members.  In so doing, you'll discover that (a) you're already meeting on the best day of the week, and simply thinking about what precedes and follows your meetings will now be more strategic; or (b) you're meeting on the wrong day of the week, and you'll attempt to be more strategic on when you'll start meeting next time.  Success is often found in the simplest of things.  

As you're getting input to your team about the best day of the week to meet, keep the following important fact in mind. 

Mondays and Fridays are typically the least effective days of the week to hold a meeting.  On Mondays, everyone's getting ready for the week, and most are typically still in "weekend mode."  Also, there are some holidays that fall on the weekend and therefore are made up on Mondays, especially if you work for a government agency or are a subcontractor for the government.  On Fridays, everyone's catching up and getting ready for the weekend.  Also, many employees use their personal days or vacation days on Fridays to get a longer, three-day weekend. 

In a recent study conducted by WhenIsGood, (one I'll also reference in my next post), the company found that the majority of those who responded accepted meeting times on Tuesdays at 3PM.   By that time, pre-lunch energy has generally returned.  And often, it's during that time that people have caffeinated themselves and their minds are racing again and ready to go. Team members have had a chance to get settled into their week, but they are not so far into the week that they can't change course if necessary, based on what happens in the meeting.  

Getting and setting the right day of the week is not as simple as just picking a day, is it?  Take your time, figure it out, and watch the creativity and productivity in your meetings begin to increase like never before!


Read Part 6: Set a Time...And Start On Time!