I have too many meetings!

… or how to manage your agenda

Source: freepik.com

Does it happen to you to have too many meetings on one day? Or have double-triple booking, overlapping meetings for the same time slot? How do you handle them? Sharing below some tips & tricks that might be useful:

1.     Discuss the priorities with your manager. What should come first in the next weeks / months and where your focus should be.

2.     Create transparency – let others know when you have overlapping meetings on your calendar and the time challenges that you face. Also, share your priorities.

3.     Check your agenda on time (I would suggest Wednesday – Thursday for the following week). Don’t wait till before the meeting to decline it. It will create frustration for the other participants, and it will also affect your credibility.

4.     Don’t just decline the meetings – propose a new time slot and offer another alternative.

5.     In case no time slot is available, find a replacement or send the preparation for the meeting by e-mail

6.     Share your calendar with your manager, your stakeholders, and your team. This goes hand in hand with creating transparency.

7.     Keep a color coding (though I am not a color-coding person, I’ve realized this helps). Visually, it supports your sorter easier.

If you have other suggestions on how to manage your busy agenda, please share.

Yours sincerely,

EmKa

Photo source: freepik.com