Dusty Roach
Greetings and salutations! It is my sincere hope that by the time this edition hits the press that the price of oil has crept back up and everyone has started ramping back up! Between the coronavirus, the quarantine, riots, and the Saudis and Russians seeing who can drop the prices the fastest, it has been a challenging year. That is like calling Moby Dick a guppy. Regardless, we are a resilient industry and we will come back with a methodical climb.
That brings me to this month’s topic. When business starts its recovery, there is the one aspect that everyone loves and that is meetings, lots of meetings! There will be planning meetings, budget meetings, Zoom and Teams meetings, meetings after the meetings, executive meetings, board meetings, and meetings to determine when and where to have those meetings.
Over the years, I have had my fair share of meetings as I am sure everyone else has too. It is not a bad thing. It ensures that everyone knows the direction of their respective departments or divisions and how to accomplish certain objectives. Communication is key in every successful company and “successful” meetings are crucial.
Over the years I have noticed that numerous companies have not actually had any formal training on the latest and greatest techniques for identifying the different types of meetings and how to achieve the biggest bang for the buck. There are numerous books, courses, and webinars available to achieve new and innovative ways to be more efficient! One of my favorite books on the market is titled Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni. He is a New York Times bestselling author and takes you through the pitfalls of most experiences that I have encountered in the Permian. The catchy title is what piqued my curiosity and prompted me to buy the book.
I have been to contractor meetings and accident investigation/root cause analysis meetings and numerous others. The title of the aforementioned book captured exactly my feelings of the meetings and their effectiveness. By my observations, I was not the only one who felt that way. The meetings felt like a slow death without many clear takeaways. All the participants were highly educated, proven leaders and successful businessmen and businesswomen. Apparently, somewhere along the line, no one ever took a course on the effective ways to conduct a meeting. From what I could gather, regardless of the company, everyone falls into a simple routine based on what they had experienced in the past or from a previous company.
There are different types of meetings and different styles for each type. My first example is a monthly safety meeting—go figure. A safety meeting typically connotes safety. Yet, the safety meeting usually consists of 10 minutes of introduction, 10 minutes of operational issues, 20 minutes of actual “safety awareness training,” and then 20 minutes for a test in which the answers are covered and mitigated in unison. The presentation is usually a PowerPoint in which the presenter reads the slides to the audience while everyone is checking their phones for any kind of distraction they can find. After that, there are doughnuts for everyone. The facilities are air conditioned in the winter and heated in the summer. Rarely is there 100 percent attendance due to operational considerations, scheduling conflicts, and constraints. There are numerous opportunities to improve the process.
Another type of meeting is monthly or quarterly budget and financial review. This meeting always excites everyone (sarcasm). This time the venue usually is a climate-controlled facility, and there are snacks and sometimes a catered lunch is brought in. Depending on the number of participants, the event includes a large conference table where the regional manager or regional VP sits at the head of the table. Handouts are passed out, and area managers take turns covering their respective areas one by one, line by line, on the EBITDA. It is a grueling process. Usually a human resource representative and a safety representative are in attendance. Sometimes they are given 10-20 minutes at the end of the meeting to cover any pertinent concerns.
I will not belabor the issue by covering every kind of meeting there is. You get the point. With rare exceptions, it does feel like “death” by meetings. The bathroom and smoke breaks reveal everyone’s feelings about the drudgery and waste of time of the meeting. If there are performance deficiencies, these are covered in front of one’s peers. It’s called the shame game.
Granted, people do not look for Vegas style entertainment, nor do they want a comedy act. Everyone in attendance would like to see upbeat delivery, accurate information, and clear and precise direction. Most attendees should be prepared and asked for their input, and there should be an exchange of ideas. Then comes the gratuitous question, “Do you have anything important to add?” right before a break or the conclusion of the meeting. This does not project confidence or add value to the meeting.
My point of this month’s topic is that during a downturn, when things are slow, it is an excellent time to improve and hone your company’s meetings. There are ways to make them high energy, involving everyone and making them feel like part of the team.
Like Andy Stanley says, “Leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing significant to say.” This is a huge opportunity missed to get the most out of your people. Now is the time to prepare for the next boom. Anticipate the opportunities and needs for improvement and utilize this time to lead your company into prominence.
Remember it’s not how many hits you make in baseball, it’s how many times you reach home safely! And may God bless America!
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Dusty Roach is a safety professional based in Midland. He is also a public speaker on subjects of leadership and safety, and he maintains a personal website at dustyroach.com.