How much time do you spend (waste) in unproductive meetings each week?
Put a stop to the black hole of meetings by establishing a clear set of guidelines for yourself, other managers, and employees about how a productive meeting should be run.
Phil Grisolia, an accredited Certified Business Communicator, offers six simple steps to manage meetings:
- No meeting can be scheduled without at least 7 days advance notice
- The person scheduling the meeting must also provide everyone with an agenda for that meeting (This allows those invited an opportunity to prepare in advance.)
- That person must also assure someone is present at the meeting to take minutes – accurate notes about who said what, what was agreed to, follow-ups, assigned responsibilities, etc.
- Every meeting must start on time – regardless of who may not yet be present. People quickly learn this rule after one or two such starts.
- Within two business days following the meeting – but only after being reviewed and approved by the person in charge of the meeting – the minutes must be in the hands of all who were present or who are otherwise involved.
- Finally, no meeting is to last more than 40 minutes because, as Grisolia says, “The mind can only tolerate what the fanny can.”
