Five Minutes

Five minutes may be all we need.

Productivity and efficiency obsessed cultures exist everywhere and albeit increasingly prevalent, they have always been a thing.

I recall a manager years ago who would calculate ‘wasted minutes’ in a meeting, announce the total with a scathing tone, and admonish all in attendance for this unacceptable behaviour.

Yes, I’ve been in many a poorly run meeting, and many that could have been an email or less. In this instance I am referring to a little bit of ancillary chatter between colleagues before a meeting starts in earnest, or while waiting for a tech issue to be rectified, or any of the other examples of natural breaks in a meeting’s flow.

I wonder what opportunities are lost when taking such an approach, and I am concerned we miss the wood for the trees.

Five minutes was all I needed recently while ‘chatting’ with a colleague about how their day was proceeding. In that time we touched on a range of challenging issues facing them and others, and we shared some stories depicting where change is possible.

We achieved the outcomes for the meeting and so much more.

Those five minutes were the most valuable time spent as they raised awareness, sparked ideas and cemented connection and trust that would have been impossible otherwise.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll no doubt say it a gazillion times more, we are humans, not machines. With this in mind, a dose of flexibility does not go astray.

I’m pleased I took the five minutes. I’m curious if you do, too.