Meetings are increasingly important in primary care practices, given the complex and seemingly endless changes to technology, billing, and care delivery that we have to communicate to our teams. But we're also busy, so we need to make sure our meetings are efficient and useful. Thinking critically about the “five Ws” can help maximize everyone's time.

1. WHY ARE YOU MEETING?

Understanding why you are meeting is key to determining whether a meeting is truly necessary. For example, if the intent is to have bidirectional communication, a meeting can be useful; however, if the intent is to have one-way communication, an email could be more appropriate. If the intent is for staff to share accomplishments or give kudos to colleagues, that's nice to do in person, but in some cases using a message board (physical or electronic) can be more efficient and longer lasting.

Similarly, you can use meetings to share patient safety stories, patient satisfaction scores, or process improvement data if the intent is to have a group discussion about them. But if you're just looking to make that information available to staff, sharing it electronically saves time and allows staff to look at it whenever is convenient for them.