That’s a new phrase for me. One I’m still getting used to at my current interim engagement in IT at the University of Vermont Health Network. Said like that, it means it’s 10 minutes to the hour and time to wrap up the meeting. Time for people to shut down any video conferencing, clear the room, take a bio-break and get to their next meeting. And for others to come in and get set up for the next meeting to start right on time. And start on time they do.

This is a meeting discipline that makes a lot of sense and everyone seems to have adapted to it. As the new outsider, I’m still getting used to it and trying my best to conform. Get there on time and if chairing the meeting, wrap up by 10 minutes to the hour (5 minutes if it’s a 30-minute meeting).

Other meeting norms the IT department has established include all agendas and meeting materials available in advance as part of the meeting invite, not sent around separately as emails with attachments. I was told early on that if a meeting doesn’t have an agenda, you’re free to not attend the meeting. While I’ve seen no specific guideline on this, I wouldn’t be surprised. Another way to ensure meetings have purpose and a plan for the time.

Audio and video conferencing are used extensively as people are spread out geographically. Most of the time the technology is seamless.

Meeting norms that are published and available in some of the conference rooms:

• Respect-listen to one another
• Challenge each other-respectfully
• Be fearless (especially in raising questions, concerns, issues)
• Prioritize our time together
• If there is conflict/confusion, go directly to the individual
• Be present-physically and mentally (no devices unless taking notes or presenting)
• Be accountable to one another
• Support the collective health of the team
• We speak in a unified voice once decisions are made

All behaviors that contribute to productive, collaborate work together. I can honestly say that the meetings here are some of the most productive, focused, and efficient meetings I’ve seen in all the organizations I’ve worked in.

And they are not afraid to sunset meetings that are no longer useful or combine meetings if there is overlap in purpose and attendees. One of the first things we did when I started the interim was to look at all the standing meetings I was expected to attend or chair. We agreed to sunset one of them right away and that it was time to revisit the purpose and attendees for two others. A relatively new practice is ”no meetings Fridays”. It allows people to focus on work and more one on one time.

So how did all this begin? The CMIO, Doug Gentile, started a quarterly journal club a few years ago modeled after clubs he had participated in as a physician. The idea of meeting norms came out of an early journal club on meeting efficiency and effectiveness.

If you think you spend too much time in meetings that aren’t productive or useful, consider making some adjustments. It’s not that hard and others will probably thank you. Kirk Mahlen, one of our advisors at StarBridge Advisors, wrote a more in-depth post on effective meetings recently – it’s a great guide if you’re ready to tackle the challenge in your organization.

Related Post:

Orchestrating Effective Meeting Performance