There are jokes abound about meetings being the practical alternative to work.
And we can all relate to those long, drawn-out meetings that don’t seem to achieve anything.
But meetings – when held correctly – play a key and valuable role in the workplace and in business generally. So how can you make sure you hold
good meetings?
Facebook’s HR chief Lori Goler says it all comes down to feedback. Speaking to
Business Insider last week, Goler noted that a pillar of the social media giant’s workplace culture is the importance of honest and frequent feedback, which enables teams to keep moving quickly.
So on completion of a meeting, the moderator will ask some of those who attended questions such as: "How do you think that meeting went? What could I have done differently to make it more effective?"
When Goler moderates meetings, she wants to hear regularly what aspects of the meeting worked, and what didn’t, so she can constantly improve.
“It's important to keep it natural. You shouldn't be sending out a list of questions, and there's no need to send it to every member of the team. Keep it quick and simple,” she said.
"You ask the people who you think might have the greatest insight.”
And it’s not just her meetings where this practice is used – staff in moderator positions throughout Facebook will reach out after meetings.
"It's really quite a remarkably open environment when it comes to giving and receiving feedback," Goler said. "It's just part of our culture."
