Meetings have a bad reputation

Meetings have a bad reputation. It's unfair, really. It's not the meeting's fault. It could be good, if only

people would let it.

While heavy-duty or especially difficult MBT Sirima,meetings require more than a few little tools to be effective, you can

vastly improve the outcome of a routine meeting simply by using a mere five of my favorite tools. Talk about

traveling light!

1. Invite the right people. It sounds simple enough, but too often I see topics covered with a full group that

only apply to a sub-set of the group, on the excuse that, "this is the only time we have them together."

Likewise, if you can't make a decision without Ms. X or Mr. Y, who will not be in attendance, you have to

seriously question why you're having the meeting. You're not alone if you've done this. I've been guilty of

this sin myself.

2. Start with a clear objective for the meeting. And, by the way, don't keep it to yourself! Send it to

everyone. Will you be making decisions? Getting input? Sharing feedback? Particularly with routine meetings,

it's tempting to hold the meeting because it's what we do, or because you think it provides some sort of

bonding, but what are you really trying to accomplish? People don't actually bond very much in unproductive

meetings that lack clear objectives.

3. Set up a successful agenda in advance. Okay, for some leaders setting an agenda at all would be progress!

You know who you are. :)

As you build the agenda, get real about how long it will take to address each topic. You can't treat a complex

issue like ongoing poor product quality the same way you treat a status report on a successful project. Yet,

how often do we find ourselves in a meeting in which these two topics have roughly the same allocation of time?

As a guideline, assume that if the goal is to make a decision, it will take four times longer than if the goal

is to simply provide a status report. If you know , MBT Imara Sandals darn well that the status report will actually stimulate a

provocative discussion but no decision is expected to be made, allow twice the time as for a more routine

status report.