stylist’s editorial director lisa smosarski shares her career wisdom
Earlier this year, a piece of research revealed the average office worker spends roughly five years of their life in meetings.* . I didn’t really believe it until I calculated I’d spent over 1,000 hours – 41 solid days and nights – in meetings discussing covers alone. I’ve since totted up that I’ve lost months to meetings that should have been emails. That said,, we were given 24 hours’ notice to get to New York. What followed was a series of adrenaline-fueled meetings: three of us sitting on the floor of a Heathrow departure lounge mapping out how to use our time effectively, brainstorming over the Atlantic, and a kick-off session in a security-swept hotel with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and their team. I was bracing myself for the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) effect. HIPPOs – without the person in question meaning them to – can have a silencing effect on a room and cause debate to disappear. HIPPOs often comes from the boss, but it could also be the opinion of a respected attendee (say, a former Secretary of State), and can inadvertently cause otherwise vocal people to hold back their thoughts. It turns out I needn’t have worried. In every meeting, Clinton listened carefully and smiled warmly so everyone felt at ease. She gathered everyone’s opinions and gave positive feedback, only offering her thoughts after everyone else had spoken. The result was a candid conversation and an excellent issue – and it served as a reminder to hold back when I have (or am) the HIPPO in a room, too. Here are the four other principles I use to ensure productive, useful meetings every time.
