“Hard Stops,” insisting a meeting ends at the precise moment that it was scheduled to end, is a surprisingly useful concept.
That’s because meetings have a tendency to go on and on and on, until too many people in the meeting get too bored and—shockingly—that could take a very, very long time. Forget the “never-ending story;” there is “the never-ending meeting.” And the worst part? Often everyone in the meeting wants it to end, but somehow it manages to keep on going and going and going. Perhaps because The Client is the one person who just doesn’t want it to end? Or maybe there is a problem that has no immediate solution and lots of people think that by discussing it in circles they will come closer to a solution?
Yes, yes, yes, anyone who has worked for a big company has suffered through that far too many times. This isn’t just an occasional annoying meeting; it is the default.
One secret is: even the Client, who is pushing it ahead, wants it to end. He’s pushing it ahead because there’s a problem that hasn’t been solved and he wants to pressure everyone to solve it. Maybe it’s an open issue, or maybe it’s just sharing lists and it’s all just gone slowly so time is running over but he really wants everyone to share the lists. There’s always a reason, but he’s enjoying it as little as everyone else.
There’s a very easy way to solve this, and surprisingly few people do it: at the start of a meeting, announce a hard stop. “Hey everyone, I just want to let you know that I have a call at on the hour, so if this meeting runs late, I’ll need to jump out right before the hour.” It’s as easy as that.
There’s a subtle advantage to this: not only can you leave meetings and thus not waste your time, but it messages to everyone else around that you have a lot to do (which is hopefully true.)
This leads us to an important detail to not forget: this one can only be played if you really are busy. If you’re an intern just starting your career, or everyone knows you’re not doing much, then this will just confuse people. So always remember the broader version of this, what you say and what you imply should always map very closely to the underlying reality.
