In the dynamic landscape of project management, ad hoc meetings serve as essential tools for addressing immediate and specific concerns. Organizations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI) acknowledge that these impromptu gatherings, unlike regularly scheduled sessions, tackle urgent issues as they arise. These meetings, often facilitated through digital platforms like Zoom, allow teams to quickly align and strategize without the formalities of traditional meetings. Understanding what is an ad hoc meeting requires recognizing its role in agile environments where flexibility and responsiveness, championed by thought leaders like Jeff Sutherland, the co-creator of Scrum, are paramount to project success.
Understanding Ad Hoc Meetings: Spontaneity and Urgency
Ad hoc meetings represent a unique facet of organizational communication, characterized by their unplanned nature and the critical need they address. Unlike regularly scheduled meetings, ad hoc gatherings arise from immediate circumstances, demanding swift action and collaborative problem-solving. Understanding the core principles that define these meetings is crucial to harnessing their potential for enhancing business efficiency.
Defining the Ad Hoc Meeting
At its core, an ad hoc meeting is a spontaneous, unplanned assembly convened to address an immediate need or opportunity. The term "ad hoc," derived from Latin, literally means "for this," emphasizing its specific, situation-driven purpose. These meetings are not part of a pre-defined schedule but rather spring from unforeseen challenges, emerging issues, or time-sensitive decisions.
Ad hoc meetings distinguish themselves from routine meetings through their flexibility and focus. While scheduled meetings often follow a strict agenda and are designed for ongoing discussions, ad hoc meetings are nimble and tailored to resolve specific, pressing issues.
The focus is laser-sharp, the timeline compressed, and the expectation for resolution high.
The Significance of Urgency
The sense of urgency is the lifeblood of an ad hoc meeting. These meetings are not called for leisurely discussions, but rather to address critical situations that demand immediate attention. This urgency differentiates them from standard meetings, which may address broader, less time-sensitive topics.
Think of a sudden system outage, a critical client request, or an unexpected market shift. These scenarios necessitate a rapid response, making an ad hoc meeting the ideal vehicle for swift decision-making and coordinated action.
The ability to quickly convene relevant stakeholders and address the issue head-on is what sets ad hoc meetings apart, mitigating potential damage and capitalizing on fleeting opportunities.
Embracing Spontaneity
The spontaneity inherent in ad hoc meetings profoundly impacts their structure, preparation, and expected outcomes. Unlike scheduled meetings, there is often little or no advance notice. This can lead to both challenges and advantages.
On one hand, participants may have limited time to prepare, potentially hindering in-depth analysis or detailed presentations. On the other hand, spontaneity fosters creativity and candor, encouraging participants to think on their feet and offer unfiltered insights.
The lack of rigid structure can also lead to more flexible and dynamic discussions, allowing for a more agile and responsive approach to problem-solving.
However, embracing spontaneity does not equate to a lack of direction. It emphasizes the need for a clear understanding of the meeting’s objectives and a skilled facilitator to guide the conversation toward a timely resolution.
Strategic Decision-Making and Problem-Solving in Ad Hoc Settings
Ad hoc meetings are not simply about gathering people; they are about catalyzing action. Their strategic importance lies in their ability to facilitate rapid decision-making and problem-solving in time-sensitive situations. This section delves into how these meetings achieve these critical objectives, transforming potential crises into opportunities for innovation and decisive action.
Real-Time Decision-Making: Speed and Efficacy
In today’s dynamic business landscape, the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively is paramount. Ad hoc meetings excel in this domain, providing a platform for immediate deliberation and resolution when traditional decision-making processes are too slow.
Consider a scenario where a competitor launches a disruptive product. Waiting for a scheduled meeting could mean losing valuable market share.
An ad hoc meeting allows stakeholders to swiftly analyze the situation, assess the competitive threat, and formulate a response strategy within hours, not weeks.
This agility is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and capitalizing on fleeting opportunities.
Streamlining the Decision Process
To maximize the effectiveness of real-time decision-making, several key elements must be in place.
First, ensure that the right people are in the room. Invite individuals with the necessary expertise and authority to make informed decisions. Second, establish a clear objective for the meeting. This prevents discussions from veering off-topic and ensures that the focus remains on the critical issue at hand.
Finally, empower attendees to speak candidly and share their perspectives openly. A culture of transparency and open communication fosters trust and enables more informed decisions.
Problem-Solving as a Primary Objective: Addressing Critical Issues
At their core, ad hoc meetings are problem-solving forums. They are convened to address immediate challenges, resolve critical issues, and mitigate potential risks.
Whether it’s a sudden supply chain disruption, a critical software bug, or a major client complaint, these meetings provide a structured environment for identifying the root cause of the problem, exploring potential solutions, and implementing corrective actions.
The key is to approach problem-solving systematically.
A Structured Approach to Problem Resolution
Begin by clearly defining the problem and its potential impact. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and understands the severity of the situation.
Next, brainstorm potential solutions. Encourage participants to think outside the box and explore unconventional approaches. Once a viable solution has been identified, develop a detailed action plan, outlining specific steps, responsibilities, and timelines.
Finally, monitor the implementation of the solution and make adjustments as needed. This iterative approach ensures that the problem is effectively resolved and that similar issues are prevented in the future.
Leveraging the Power of Brainstorming: Spontaneous Idea Generation
The spontaneous nature of ad hoc meetings creates a unique environment for unleashing creativity and generating innovative solutions.
The pressure of time and the urgency of the situation can often force participants to think more creatively and offer fresh perspectives that might not emerge in a more structured setting.
This spontaneous idea generation, or brainstorming, is a powerful tool for overcoming complex challenges and developing breakthrough solutions.
Maximizing Brainstorming Effectiveness
To harness the full potential of brainstorming in ad hoc meetings, it’s essential to create a safe and supportive environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their ideas, no matter how unconventional they may seem.
Encourage active listening and avoid criticizing or dismissing ideas prematurely. Instead, build on each other’s suggestions and explore different possibilities.
Use visual aids, such as whiteboards or online collaboration tools, to capture ideas and facilitate discussion.
Finally, remember that the goal of brainstorming is to generate a wide range of ideas, not to immediately identify the perfect solution. The best ideas often emerge from a process of iteration and refinement.
Essential Tools and Technologies for Seamless Ad Hoc Meetings
Ad hoc meetings thrive on immediacy, requiring the right tools to bridge the gap between the spontaneous need to connect and the ability to do so effectively. Technology plays a pivotal role in streamlining the initiation and execution of these impromptu gatherings, ensuring that accessibility and collaboration are not compromised by their unplanned nature.
The selection and strategic implementation of appropriate tools can significantly enhance the efficiency and impact of ad hoc meetings, transforming potential chaos into a productive, results-driven session.
Video Conferencing Software: Bridging Geographical Divides
In today’s globally interconnected business environment, teams are often dispersed across different locations. Video conferencing software becomes indispensable for facilitating face-to-face interactions, regardless of geographical barriers.
These platforms allow remote team members to participate actively, fostering a sense of connection and collaboration that is often lost in audio-only calls.
The visual component enhances communication, allowing participants to read non-verbal cues and build rapport, which is particularly crucial in ad hoc meetings where trust and rapid understanding are essential.
Selecting the Right Platform
Choosing the right video conferencing solution involves considering factors such as:
- Ease of Use: The platform should be intuitive and require minimal training, enabling quick adoption and seamless meeting initiation.
- Reliability: Stable connections and high-quality video and audio are critical for avoiding disruptions and maintaining focus.
- Features: Look for features such as screen sharing, recording, and integrated chat functionalities to enhance collaboration and information sharing.
- Security: Ensuring the platform offers robust security measures is paramount, especially when discussing sensitive or confidential information.
Instant Messaging Platforms: Rapid Coordination and Initiation
Instant messaging (IM) platforms are invaluable for the rapid coordination, scheduling, and initiation of ad hoc meetings. These tools enable real-time communication, allowing team members to quickly assess availability, propose meeting times, and share essential information with minimal delay.
Unlike email, which can be asynchronous and time-consuming, IM platforms facilitate immediate responses, enabling teams to swiftly converge on a solution or make a critical decision.
Beyond Basic Messaging
Effective use of IM platforms for ad hoc meetings extends beyond simple text messaging:
- Group Channels: Create dedicated channels for specific projects or teams to streamline communication and avoid overwhelming individual inboxes.
- File Sharing: Enable seamless sharing of documents, presentations, and other relevant materials directly within the chat window.
- Integration: Integrate the IM platform with other business tools, such as calendar applications and project management software, to streamline workflows.
- Quick Polls: Utilize poll features to quickly gauge opinions or preferences, facilitating rapid decision-making within the group.
Calendar Applications: Ensuring Attendance and Managing Schedules
Calendar applications play a vital role in managing schedules, sending notifications, and ensuring attendance, even for unplanned meetings. While ad hoc meetings are, by definition, spontaneous, calendar applications can still be used to communicate the meeting details quickly and efficiently, minimizing conflicts and maximizing participation.
By sending out calendar invites with clear agendas and objectives, even on short notice, organizers can help attendees prioritize the meeting and prepare accordingly.
Maximizing Calendar Efficiency
To leverage calendar applications effectively for ad hoc meetings:
- Real-time Availability: Ensure that team members’ calendars are up-to-date and accessible to facilitate quick scheduling decisions.
- Automated Notifications: Utilize automated reminders to ensure that attendees are aware of the meeting and can join on time.
- Mobile Accessibility: Choose a calendar application that is accessible on mobile devices, allowing team members to receive notifications and join meetings from anywhere.
- Integration with Other Tools: Integrate the calendar application with video conferencing and IM platforms to streamline the meeting initiation process.
In conclusion, strategic integration of video conferencing, instant messaging, and calendar applications is essential for enabling seamless ad hoc meetings. These tools bridge geographical divides, facilitate rapid coordination, and ensure attendance, empowering teams to make quick decisions, solve urgent problems, and drive business agility.
Organizational Context: Where Ad Hoc Meetings Play a Critical Role
The value of ad hoc meetings is not universally uniform; their significance escalates within specific organizational structures and functional roles. The ability to swiftly convene and address emergent issues becomes a crucial asset, shaping operational agility and responsiveness.
Understanding where these meetings wield the greatest influence is paramount to appreciating their strategic importance in the modern business landscape. This section explores key organizational contexts where ad hoc meetings demonstrate their exceptional worth.
Startups: Navigating the Landscape of Uncertainty
Startups, characterized by their inherent instability and rapid evolution, find ad hoc meetings indispensable. The very nature of a startup demands constant adaptation, forcing teams to swiftly respond to market feedback, competitor actions, and unforeseen technical challenges.
The ability to gather spontaneously and recalibrate strategies is a critical survival skill.
Pivoting and Adapting in Real-Time
Startups often need to make radical shifts in direction (“pivots”) based on limited data. Ad hoc meetings become the forum for these critical discussions.
These meetings can quickly address challenges during periods of hyper-growth. Discussions allow teams to analyze new data, reassess assumptions, and formulate revised action plans, maximizing agility and minimizing wasted resources.
Large Corporations: Managing Complexity and Crisis
While often associated with structured processes, large corporations also heavily rely on ad hoc meetings, particularly when dealing with crisis management and incident response.
Unforeseen business disruptions, such as supply chain issues, cyberattacks, or public relations crises, demand immediate attention and coordinated action. Large corporations use ad hoc meetings to address such incidents.
Incident Response and Business Continuity
In these high-pressure situations, ad hoc meetings facilitate the rapid dissemination of information, enabling decision-makers to assess the situation, formulate a response strategy, and coordinate the necessary resources.
The speed and efficiency of these impromptu gatherings can be instrumental in mitigating damage, minimizing downtime, and protecting the company’s reputation.
The Project Manager: Steering Projects Through Unforeseen Obstacles
Project managers frequently encounter unexpected challenges that require immediate attention, such as scope creep, resource constraints, or technical difficulties. In these instances, ad hoc meetings become an invaluable tool for mitigating risks and resolving conflicts.
The project manager can bring together relevant stakeholders to brainstorm solutions, reallocate resources, and adjust timelines, ensuring the project stays on track despite unforeseen setbacks. Ad hoc meetings with developers, clients, and designers keep the project up-to-date.
Proactive Risk Management
By proactively addressing potential issues through ad hoc meetings, project managers can prevent minor problems from escalating into major crises, ultimately increasing the likelihood of project success.
The Team Lead: Fostering Cohesion and Addressing Performance
Team leads often use ad hoc meetings to address performance issues, resolve interpersonal conflicts, or overcome roadblocks that hinder team progress. These meetings provide a platform for open communication, constructive feedback, and collaborative problem-solving.
These meetings enhance team cohesion, especially during critical times, by fostering a sense of shared responsibility and collective ownership.
Building a Supportive Environment
By quickly addressing issues and concerns, team leads can create a more supportive and productive work environment, enabling team members to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.
Mitigating the Impact: Time Management and Productivity Strategies
Ad hoc meetings, while invaluable for addressing urgent matters, can potentially disrupt workflow and detract from overall productivity if not managed effectively. The key lies in minimizing their disruptive impact and maximizing their contribution to efficiency. This section delves into strategies for achieving this balance, focusing on time management, productivity assessment, and navigating the often-absent agenda.
Time Management: Minimizing Disruption, Maximizing Value
Effective time management is paramount to ensuring ad hoc meetings remain a benefit rather than a burden. Setting clear time limits before initiating the meeting can prevent it from dragging on unnecessarily, eating into valuable work hours.
A pre-defined timebox encourages focused discussion and compels participants to prioritize the most critical issues.
Clearly defined objectives are equally important. Before the meeting commences, even if only moments before, articulate the specific problem to be solved or decision to be made.
This helps to keep the conversation on track and prevents scope creep, ensuring the meeting achieves its intended purpose efficiently. Clarity of purpose is an indispensable advantage.
Assessing Productivity: Quantifying the Impact
Determining whether an ad hoc meeting enhances or detracts from overall productivity requires a careful evaluation of its outcomes and impact on workflow.
Following each meeting, take a moment to assess whether the identified problem was effectively resolved, and whether the decisions made contributed positively to the overall goals.
Consider the time investment relative to the value gained. Was the issue addressed significant enough to warrant the disruption caused by the meeting?
Analyzing the workflow both before and after the ad hoc meeting can provide valuable insights.
Did the meeting streamline processes, remove obstacles, or improve communication? Or did it simply add another layer of complexity, creating further delays and confusion?
Regular assessments of the productivity impact of ad hoc meetings enable continuous improvement and refinement of processes.
Navigating the Agendaless Landscape
A hallmark of ad hoc meetings is the frequent absence of a formal, pre-planned agenda. While spontaneity is part of their nature, a lack of direction can lead to unfocused discussions and wasted time.
Even without a pre-circulated agenda, it is crucial to quickly establish focus and direction at the start of the meeting.
Begin by clearly stating the purpose of the gathering and outlining the key topics to be addressed.
This can be done verbally, or even through a quick note shared with participants.
Encourage participants to contribute to the informal agenda, ensuring that all relevant issues are addressed, and all voices are heard.
Establishing focus on the fly is crucial to ensuring a productive, efficient gathering.
Optimizing Communication and Fostering Collaboration in the Moment
Ad hoc meetings, by their very nature, demand swift and decisive action. However, speed should never come at the expense of clarity or collaborative spirit. The success of these impromptu gatherings hinges on the ability to communicate effectively and foster an environment where every participant feels empowered to contribute. This section explores how to optimize communication and collaboration within the dynamic landscape of ad hoc meetings, transforming them from potential chaos into engines of innovation.
Communication Best Practices: Clarity and Conciseness
In the fast-paced environment of an ad hoc meeting, clear and concise communication is not just desirable; it’s essential. Ambiguity and convoluted language can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and ultimately, ineffective decision-making. Therefore, adopting communication best practices becomes paramount.
Simplifying Language and Avoiding Jargon
One of the most effective strategies is to simplify language, avoiding technical jargon or overly complex terminology. Speak plainly and directly, ensuring that everyone understands the message being conveyed, regardless of their specific expertise. If technical terms are unavoidable, provide brief explanations to ensure inclusivity.
Active Listening and Seeking Clarification
Communication is a two-way street. Active listening is just as important as clear speaking. Pay close attention to what others are saying, and don’t hesitate to ask clarifying questions if something is unclear. This proactive approach helps to prevent misunderstandings and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
Utilizing Visual Aids for Enhanced Understanding
Visual aids, such as diagrams, charts, or even simple sketches, can significantly enhance understanding, especially when dealing with complex information. Sharing a quick screen or whiteboard can help to illustrate key points and facilitate more efficient communication.
Fostering Collaboration: Unleashing Collective Intelligence
Ad hoc meetings provide a unique opportunity to leverage the collective intelligence of the attendees. By fostering a collaborative environment, organizations can tap into a diverse range of perspectives and experiences, leading to more innovative and effective solutions. The goal is to create a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas and contributing to the discussion.
Encouraging Active Participation from All Attendees
Actively encourage participation from all attendees, even those who may be more reserved. Soliciting input directly can help to uncover valuable insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. Create a safe space where individuals feel comfortable expressing their opinions without fear of judgment.
Embracing Diverse Perspectives and Viewpoints
Value and embrace diverse perspectives and viewpoints. Different backgrounds, experiences, and areas of expertise can offer unique insights into the problem at hand. Encourage attendees to challenge assumptions and think outside the box.
Utilizing Brainstorming Techniques for Idea Generation
Brainstorming techniques can be particularly effective in ad hoc meetings for generating a wide range of potential solutions. Encourage participants to build upon each other’s ideas, fostering a sense of shared ownership and creativity.
The Role of a Facilitator: Guiding the Discussion
While spontaneity is a key characteristic of ad hoc meetings, a degree of structure is still necessary to ensure productivity. This is where the role of a facilitator becomes crucial. The facilitator’s primary responsibility is to guide the discussion, maintain focus, and ensure that the meeting stays on track.
Maintaining Focus and Keeping the Meeting on Track
The facilitator should actively monitor the conversation, gently steering it back on course if it veers off-topic. They can also help to manage the agenda, ensuring that all key issues are addressed within the allotted time.
Encouraging Balanced Participation and Managing Dominant Voices
A skilled facilitator will ensure that all attendees have an opportunity to contribute, while also managing any dominant voices that might overshadow others. They can use techniques such as round-robin questioning or timed speaking turns to promote balanced participation.
Summarizing Key Decisions and Action Items
At the end of the meeting, the facilitator should summarize the key decisions that were made and any action items that were assigned. This helps to ensure that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and that the meeting’s outcomes are translated into tangible actions.
Emergent Leadership and Shared Responsibility
It’s worth noting that facilitation doesn’t always need to be a designated role. In some cases, emergent leadership can arise, where individuals naturally step up to guide the discussion and maintain focus. Regardless of who takes on the role, the key is to ensure that someone is actively managing the meeting process to maximize its effectiveness.
By prioritizing clear communication, fostering collaboration, and embracing effective facilitation, organizations can unlock the full potential of ad hoc meetings. These impromptu gatherings can then become powerful tools for driving innovation, solving problems, and responding to the challenges of today’s fast-paced business environment.
Ad Hoc Meetings in Context: Understanding Related Meeting Types
Ad hoc meetings exist within a broader spectrum of meeting formats, each designed to serve a distinct purpose. Understanding how ad hoc meetings differ from, and relate to, other meeting types is crucial for selecting the most appropriate format for a given situation. This section clarifies the specific characteristics of ad hoc meetings by contrasting them with scheduled meetings, emergency meetings, and providing context with understanding meetings in general.
Comparing Ad Hoc and Scheduled Meetings
The most significant distinction between ad hoc and scheduled meetings lies in their planning horizon. Scheduled meetings are proactively planned, often weeks or months in advance, with a predetermined agenda and list of attendees. This allows for thorough preparation, data gathering, and strategic alignment.
Ad hoc meetings, conversely, arise spontaneously in response to an immediate need or unforeseen circumstance.
Their hallmark is flexibility and speed, enabling rapid decision-making and problem-solving. Unlike their scheduled counterparts, ad hoc meetings may lack a formal agenda, and attendance is typically limited to those directly involved in the issue at hand.
The trade-off is clear: scheduled meetings offer structure and strategic depth, while ad hoc meetings provide agility and responsiveness. The choice depends entirely on the nature and urgency of the situation.
Emergency Meetings: A Critical Differentiation
While both ad hoc and emergency meetings share a sense of urgency, there are subtle but important distinctions. Emergency meetings are convened in response to a crisis or critical event that demands immediate action to mitigate potential damage or disruption. Think of a sudden system outage, a major security breach, or a significant regulatory change.
The stakes are typically much higher than those addressed in a typical ad hoc meeting, and the decisions made often have far-reaching consequences. Ad hoc meetings, while addressing urgent needs, are often more tactical in nature and focus on resolving immediate issues within a specific project or team.
Emergency meetings often require a predefined escalation protocol and a designated crisis management team. Ad hoc meetings, on the other hand, are more fluid and adaptable, with the attendees determined by the specific issue at hand. In essence, all emergency meetings are ad hoc, but not all ad hoc meetings are emergencies.
Understanding Meetings: Providing General Context
To fully appreciate the role of ad hoc meetings, it’s helpful to consider the broader purpose of meetings in general. Meetings serve as a crucial forum for communication, collaboration, and decision-making within organizations.
They facilitate the exchange of information, the sharing of ideas, and the coordination of efforts towards common goals. Meetings can take many forms, from formal board meetings to informal team check-ins, each with its own unique structure and objectives.
Ad hoc meetings fit into this landscape as a powerful tool for addressing immediate needs and resolving unforeseen challenges. They complement scheduled meetings by providing a mechanism for rapid response and agile decision-making.
By understanding the nuances of different meeting types, organizations can strategically leverage them to optimize communication, foster collaboration, and drive overall business performance.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Key Ingredients for Ad Hoc Success
The very nature of ad hoc meetings—their spontaneous emergence and focus on immediate needs—demands a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. Without these key ingredients, even the most urgent and well-intentioned gatherings can quickly devolve into unproductive time sinks. This section explores how to cultivate these qualities to ensure your ad hoc meetings are not only efficient but also contribute meaningfully to business agility.
Adapting to the Unforeseen
Flexibility in an ad hoc context means being prepared to deviate from a rigid plan. It involves adapting to changing circumstances, fluctuating member availability, and evolving priorities.
The initial reason for the meeting might shift as new information comes to light. Or, key stakeholders may become unavailable at the last minute.
The agenda, if one exists at all, may need to be reshaped on the fly. The key is to maintain a clear objective while remaining open to adjusting the path to achieve it.
Managing Shifting Priorities
One of the biggest challenges in ad hoc meetings is dealing with scope creep and tangential discussions. While some digression can be beneficial for brainstorming, it’s crucial to maintain focus on the core issue.
A skilled facilitator, whether formally designated or emerging organically, can gently steer the conversation back on track. They can acknowledge related concerns while emphasizing the need to address the immediate priority first.
This requires a delicate balance of acknowledging input and maintaining efficiency.
Accommodating Member Availability
Ad hoc meetings often suffer from attendance challenges. Key decision-makers may be unavailable on short notice. The team might be missing key individuals.
Rather than postponing the meeting indefinitely, consider alternative solutions. You may choose to quickly bring individuals up to speed, delegate decision-making authority, or defer less critical aspects to a follow-up discussion.
Leveraging collaboration tools, such as instant messaging or shared documents, can help keep absent members informed and engaged even if they cannot attend in person.
Leveraging Informal Spaces: The Power of Huddle Rooms
The physical environment can significantly impact the effectiveness of ad hoc meetings. Formal conference rooms, with their rigid setups and hierarchical feel, can sometimes stifle the spontaneity and collaborative spirit needed for quick problem-solving.
This is where huddle rooms come into play. These informal spaces, often equipped with simple whiteboards or screens, provide a relaxed and accessible setting for impromptu discussions.
Fostering Spontaneity and Collaboration
Huddle rooms encourage a more egalitarian dynamic. The absence of formal seating arrangements promotes open communication and idea sharing.
Their accessibility makes it easier for team members to drop in and out as needed, fostering a sense of collective ownership and shared responsibility.
Maximizing Quick Problem-Solving
The lack of formality can actually boost creativity and efficiency. In a relaxed environment, people are more likely to contribute ideas freely and challenge assumptions.
The availability of simple tools, like whiteboards, enables visual thinking and collaborative brainstorming, accelerating the problem-solving process.
Ultimately, the adaptability fostered by using huddle rooms contributes significantly to the overall success of ad hoc meetings.
So, next time you’re faced with a sudden challenge or opportunity, don’t hesitate to call an ad hoc meeting! Now you know what an ad hoc meeting is, you can quickly gather the right people, brainstorm solutions, and get things moving – even on short notice. Good luck!