"No agenda, no attenda" guide to productive meetings

Founders dive head first into mental health support | practice (split each time) | "No agenda, no attenda" guide to productive meetings

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May 1, 2024

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Leading the Way

Founders dive head first into mental health support

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No, you're not going crazy: A growing number of business leaders are picking up the mental health baton and running with it, sharing their own struggles and encouraging employees to tend to their own. Mental Health Month begins today, and 16 company founders share advice such as ProperPlan CEO Laura Phillips, who reminds us: "Effective work isn't about long hours; it's about productive hours," and "no achievement is worth sacrificing your mental or physical health."

Full Story: TechRound (UK) (4/30)

Put it into practice: Mind Data founder Sean Ruane goes to therapy sessions, practices mindfulness and maintains "a support network of like-minded founders." He supports his team's mental health by prioritizing well-being check-ins, leading by example and recognizing that mental health issues aren't the same for each person -- and neither are the solutions.

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Smarter Communication

"No agenda, no attenda" guide to productive meetings

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Too many meetings can wear employees down, with recent research finding 72% of meetings are ineffective. Ditch old habits for meetings with a defined "purpose, agenda, result" or a "no agenda, no attenda" approach, Laura Mae Martin, a Google productivity adviser, suggests. Focus on virtual meetings by closing all your tabs and your email and admitting you aren't doing either the meeting or the email justice.

Full Story: Charter (4/30)

Put it into practice: Hold people accountable for what they promised at the last meeting, use AI tools to eliminate the need for meetings, or have a template or format for decision-making meetings, Martin suggests, among other ideas. Time insight tools can help you figure out which meetings are more important.

Double down on your resolve against double standards

Unconscious bias and stereotypes are the root of most double standards for women in the workplace, and they're double the trouble for female leaders, who are expected to balance directness with sensitivity and often are plagued by such views from women as well as men, writes executive coach Dana Theus. Even women's communication styles are judged differently than men's, asserts Theus, who shares a three-part approach women can use to cope and communicate their views.

Full Story: Inpower Coaching (4/30)

Put it into practice: Let go of anger before confronting double standards, because rationality needs to take a back seat to clarity and courage. Be willing to adapt to "certain aspects of the double standard that have value ... and draw the line at what feels inauthentic and ineffective," Theus writes.

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May 1 is International Workers' Day, except in the US and what other country, which instead celebrate the workers officially on Labor Day on the first Monday in September?