Dare to Ask ‘When’: The Overlooked MVP Question in Meetings

The more meetings you attend, the more you’ll see the same scenarios again and again. People debate the ins and outs of the particular challenge in front of them. Volunteers, or conscripts, are identified to own each of the actions that represent the next steps forward. Mortal enemies set their grievances aside for the common good. Sometimes. In these moments, all seems well in the world, and you can sense progress unfolding. For the next steps — The ‘what’ is known and the ‘who’ has been identified (often the most controversial part). All that remains is the ‘when’. When will each item be done? But no one asks. No one addresses the obvious elephant in the room. At best sometimes a default implicit timeframe for expected progress comes with the line ‘we’ll meet again in a couple of weeks’. And everyone heads their separate ways — happy that they’ve made progress. But to a project manager, or anyone relying on the outcome of these actions, a commitment for action without a date significantly loses its value when compared to one with a set timeframe. <a href="https://medium.com/@thetwoglassesversion/dare-to-ask-when-the-overlooked-mvp-question-in-meetings-de739c5cdfcf">Website</a>