It takes a little thought to hold an efficient IT meeting

　　IT conferences, if you are employees of an IT company, you should attend many IT conferences every week and every month. When many employees complain that meetings are boring, in addition to improving the way meetings are held, managers also need to understand the cost of meetings, and the reasons for the inefficiency and quality of meetings. Go ahead and waste each other's time. So, if you want to hold an efficient IT meeting, you need to put some thought into it.

　　The cost of IT conferences is staggering.

　　Some people will say that a meeting is not just a few mouths, a few pens, and a few pairs of ears. What is the cost? But don’t underestimate the cost of conferences. Frequent and inefficient IT meetings may bring The arbitrary decision-making of the executives makes IT staff overwhelmed, which not only wastes the company's cost, but also causes the company's low work efficiency and declining competitiveness.

　　Start by understanding the cost structure of a meeting. The meeting cost is usually composed of three parts, namely, the cost of meeting man-hours, the direct cost of the meeting and the cost of loss of benefits. Then let's calculate the cost of the meeting?

　　Suppose a medium-sized IT company wants to organize a project meeting with 10 participants, the meeting duration is 2 hours, and the meeting uses projection equipment. The per capita labor cost is 30 yuan/hour, and the salary is additional The value coefficient is 1.5, the usage cost of the conference room is 120 yuan per hour, and the usage cost of the projection is 100 yuan per hour.

　　According to the international conference cost calculation formula, let's calculate the actual cost of this conference. Cost of meeting working hours = average hourly salary of participants × salary value-added coefficient × number of meeting hours × (number of participants + 2) × (1 + 1.5) to calculate:

　　cost of meeting working hours = 30 × 1.5 × 2 × (10 + 2 ) × (1+1.5) = 2700 yuan

　　The direct cost of the meeting = (150 + 100) × 2 = 500 yuan, that is, the rental fee, equipment usage fee, etc.

　　The total of the two: 3200 yuan. The cost of a 2-hour IT conference with 10 participants was more than 3,000 yuan. If an enterprise is often held in small meetings, and Wenshan meets the sea, then the waste is quite amazing!

　　In fact, these are only directly visible costs, not including the indirect intangible benefit loss cost of the meeting! The indirect loss cost refers to the fact that participants have to leave their jobs due to the meeting, resulting in a decline in company management efficiency, loss of orders, The occurrence of unexpected events.

　　10 Factors That Make IT Meetings Ineffective The

　　survey found that at least 40% of IT meetings are ineffective. Combining various factors, the inefficiency of IT meetings is usually caused by the following 10 major reasons:

　　1. The meeting time is not properly arranged, everyone is tired or hungry, or the meetings are frequent, and IT staff are overwhelmed.

　　2. The meeting place is not set properly, or the environment is not good, so that the meeting is often disturbed.

　　3. The selection of the meeting object was wrong. The notification came from some dispensable participants, while some "must attend the meeting"

　　were unable to come because of their affairs.

　　4. The CIO or business leader as the moderator lacks influence, does not know how to express his intentions, and

　　does nose and runs away from the theme of the conference.

　　5. Poor preparation for the meeting, resulting in rushed and ineffective IT meetings.

　　6. The leader does not pay attention to the meeting and does not pay attention to the actual effect, which makes the participants deal with things perfunctory, and the meeting is mostly a mere formality.

　　7. The purpose and results are suddenly found to be unclear during the meeting, which makes the IT meeting meaningless.

　　8. The IT meeting lacks responsibility and performance constraints, and there is no good meeting system.

　　9. CIOs lack the concept of meeting cost and do not consider the intangible loss of meeting time.

　　10. Meetings are still in the traditional mode of mouth + pen, and modern technology is not used well, resulting in high meeting costs.

　　How to Hold an Effective IT Meeting

　　We live in a world full of meetings all the time, but we have to admit that some meetings are really critical to moving a business forward. So how can CIOs hold an efficient meeting, especially for large-scale IT construction projects (such as ERP, SCM, etc.) that will affect the future competitiveness of enterprises, and how can they effectively solve problems during the meeting, so as to improve the morale of the project team and improve project science A solid foundation for decision-making, project conflict resolution, and smooth project implementation?

　　Clarify meeting goals

　　The meetings themselves are goal-oriented. There is a clear and corresponding goal to reflect the meaning of holding a meeting. For example, the goal of convening an IT project meeting is to communicate project information, track project progress, formulate project plans, form project decisions, resolve project conflicts, track projects, etc. Of course, it also includes planning, assessing project completion time, cost-to-investment-benefit ratio And so on, so that the participants have goals and indicators, it is possible to implement them conscientiously.

　　Reasonable arrangement of meeting

　　time Between 9-10 am, IT employees start to work, their thoughts are active and full of emotions. This time period is the most suitable for holding important meetings, and it is also the best time to hold R&D meetings and business negotiations. Between 10-11:30 am or 2-4 pm, it is more suitable to mobilize employees to brainstorm, and everyone can fully start brainstorming. Other times can handle less important meetings.

　　Develop a meeting plan to standardize the meeting. The

　　IT meeting plan mainly includes establishing suitable participants, meeting records, agenda, time, venue, and meeting methods. For example, whether to discuss in groups or speak individually, and whether decisions are made by leaders or by teams. Before the meeting, a clear meeting agenda should be established, and the problems to be solved, procedures, time, and place should be distributed to the participants in text form, so that they can have a detailed understanding of the purpose, nature and structure of the meeting. Allow them to have sufficient time to prepare relevant materials and speak in a targeted manner.

　　Domestic IT benchmarking companies think of Microsoft in the United States to observe and find that every time Microsoft holds a meeting, it is an efficient and standardized operation mode, including the goal/agenda/participant/host/resolution/execution of the meeting. All are standardized, even two different The opening days before and after the meeting are standardized. This shocked Lenovo a lot. After returning, it also sorted out, classified the meetings, and carried out standardized management.

　　Develop a breakdown of the meeting agenda

　　A large IT project meeting (new product launch) has a lot of agendas and items. In order not to make the meeting busy and make mistakes, it is very important to make a meeting schedule. During the meeting, as the host, CIO can take some time from time to time to check each item on the agenda, check the completion status, and strive to implement all the meeting discussions within the time specified in the plan, push the meeting to a climax, and end the meeting in time. Contingencies can also be adjusted using the Agenda Schedule to ensure a smooth meeting.

　　Ingenious control of the meeting process

　　To keep IT meetings in good shape from beginning to end, the meeting must have effective process control. At the beginning of the meeting, the CIO or the relevant host should explain the purpose and expectations of the meeting, clarify who will take the minutes and who will assist in controlling the time, and explain the specifications of the meeting, such as turning off mobile phones, taking notes, connecting to the Internet, encouraging questions, not allowing Leave in the middle to avoid affecting the normal progress of the meeting. The primary task of the meeting host is to stick to the agenda of the meeting, prevent detours and deviations, set the time, start and end on time, and set a rough time limit for each IT agenda. One topic cannot be discussed for too long, such as If you can't draw a conclusion, you can put it aside for a while to avoid affecting other issues. Japan's Panasonic Corporation uses "minutes" as the unit of calculation for the meeting time, which is clearly divided and strictly controlled.

　　Be good at dealing with "meeting troublemakers"

　　In an IT meeting, especially a meeting related to large-scale information construction projects such as ERP, SCM or large-scale R&D projects, CIOs are most afraid of people who do not cooperate, making it difficult for the meeting to successfully achieve the planned goals. We Call these people "meeting troublemakers." IBM Corporation of the United States classifies possible "meeting troublemakers" into six categories, and has developed methods to deal with these six categories of people.

　　Latecomers - For IT employees or employees in related departments who are often late with various excuses, focus on marking people, greet them before the meeting, and punish those who do not change after the meeting; for those who are occasionally late, extra classes will be added after the meeting. , distribute the minutes of the meeting; for those who are late to the key figures, briefly and quickly review the main situation of the meeting just now at the meeting, and distribute the meeting minutes after the meeting. For ordinary people who are late, the meeting will still be held on time; for key people (such as the main leaders of the enterprise) who are late, the meeting should be delayed appropriately, but generally no more than 20 minutes, try not to delay the meeting.

　　1. Spoilers - spoilers often have serious prejudice against a certain theme or plan, can't put forward positive construction opinions, and oppose it for the sake of opposing it. Therefore, CIOs can limit the amount of time, set time periods, limit topics, and ask for positive and negative opinions to intervene in disruptors who are randomly "fired" after seeking the opinions of the majority.

　　2. Inattentive people - some IT employees or employees in related departments love to make small movements at meetings, which are easy to be distracted and sometimes seriously interfere with the mood of the meeting. To deal with such a person, the host will use his eyes to pay attention to him from time to time to remind him, or interspersed with questions to attract his attention. He can even let such a person record the meeting, write down the meeting and make suggestions, so that he cannot be distracted.

　　3. The poor and talkative - this kind of person loves to argue with a blushing face and a thick neck, talks incessantly, and wastes everyone's time; In this regard, the CIO sets a time limit and a time period to ingeniously control these people to speak at will, or leave more time for these people to speak at the end of the meeting, so as not to stray from the theme.

　　4. Those who do personal work - these employees do not take the meeting to heart, and take the opportunity to busy other things at the meeting. The CIO should make a statement before the meeting that prohibits the meeting from dealing with other matters, especially for those who love to do private work, and point out the injustice of the behavior. For those who do private work, non-important meetings can also be held before and after work, or it is also a good way to isolate the internal and external environment of the meeting to create a serious atmosphere.

　　5. Competitors - This kind of person often caters to and appreciates a certain theme or project plan proposed by leaders or CIOs, supports without assertiveness, and does not raise any constructive objections to the meeting. The host can politely remind and ask for positive and negative opinions to prevent the meeting from being overwhelmed by praise.

　　Take meeting minutes

　　Each IT meeting must have an accurate and complete meeting record. The resolutions of the meeting must have executive personnel, responsibilities and completion deadlines. It must be clearly stated in the resolution record to avoid mutual shirk after the meeting and affect the resolution. of completion. Generally speaking, 2-3 days after the end of the meeting, all participants should get the minutes of the meeting, and all participants should take responsibility for feedback and implementation of the quality of the meeting.

　　Establish a follow-up accountability system after

　　the meeting To see whether an IT project meeting is successful, see whether the meeting has produced practical decisions and whether they can be effectively implemented. Therefore, at the end of the meeting, the CIO should summarize the main decisions and action plans of the meeting in a timely manner, establish a follow-up procedure after the meeting, clarify the person responsible for each task and the completion time, and determine who will supervise and check the implementation. In the event of an accident, the CIO can discover and adjust in time. It is reported that a well-known rule of SAP's meeting is: "Quick decision after the meeting, quick action after the decision". Procter & Gamble has set up a "meeting file", which clearly writes the content of the resolution, the person to be executed, and the date of execution.

　　Conduct productive meetings with modern tools

　　Many companies are often troubled by the lack of systematic and scientific analysis methods and tools when they hold major IT construction, product strategy seminars, product investment conferences, and trade fairs. In today's information society, CIOs should make full use of modern communication technology tools, which are new important guarantees to rapidly improve the quality and efficiency of meetings, including IT technology, multimedia and video. Nowadays, network video conferencing is prevalent, using a modern technology called streaming media, which can record a meeting or event on the spot with video, and then convert it into a digital video signal and transmit it to various places through the network for playback. viewer, watch it directly or download it for later viewing. Because it is transmitted through the network, there is no time and space obstacle. Network video conferencing is very useful for group companies in various places to hold various meetings including IT projects. It can realize mobile conferences and real-time broadcasts, and it is no longer necessary to let relevant personnel take planes to their destinations, which can save flight, accommodation, meals, and ground. Transportation and many other meeting expenses. The use of modern multimedia teaching tools can also make speeches neat, picturesque and vivid, making the meeting fast and efficient. In addition, using some mobile office software to hold some discussion group meetings to deal with some small problems will save time and the effect is also good.

　　After reading the above, there is not much that needs to be done to hold an effective meeting. To prepare for the meeting, to control the meeting during the meeting, and to manage the meeting, such as meeting minutes, but it needs to be very organized. Therefore, it takes a little thought to hold an efficient IT meeting. However, the effect of the meeting will also be better than the meeting that has been held casually.

　　This article is reproduced from Tuoyuan Youke: www.toyoke.com