Practice makes perfect

I was thinking the other day about comparing athletes to information workers. An odd comparison I know.  Don’t ask how I got there…..Anyway, athletes train intensively as a team.  They practice and practice plays until they can do it in their sleep.   It becomes like instinct to them when they need to perform on the field for a game.  They understand each others’ reactions and how to work together efficiently.  Practice makes perfect.

What if we thought about preparing for meetings like athletes prepare for a game?  Imagine if all employees actually had meeting skills and had trained together as a team to prepare for meetings. 

We could have fewer and more efficient meetings.  Companies underestimate the cost of not having this kind of preparation and skill.  A badly run meeting can suck the life out of a team but a well run efficient meeting can actually be exhilarating and make a team more effective. And maybe a little more fun too!