Meeting Hell & How To Avoid It

Online, February 22, 2011 (Newswire.com) - We've all been there - sat in a meeting that has no obvious purpose, and which lasts for much longer than it needed to. There isn't a lot you can do about meetings you are summonsed to attend, but you can ensure that any meetings you run are 'things of beauty'.

Do this right and people will actually enjoy attending your meetings, and they will say things like "Why can't all meetings be run so beautifully?"

Read on to learn the secrets of running successful meetings...

14 Tips For Running A Good Meeting:

Nothing can drain the happiness from you faster than a long, unproductive meeting. You're bored; you're not getting anything done; emails are piling up while you sit, trapped.

On the other hand, a productive meeting is exhilarating. A long time ago, when I was working in Washington, D.C., I remember a friend who worked at the Department of Justice saying, "Jamie Gorelick runs a meeting so well, it brings tears to my eyes."

Meetings come in all shapes and sizes, so not all of these strategies will be useful, but here are some things I try to remember when I'm in or running a meeting:

1. Very obvious: Start on time, and end on time. Once people see that meetings are starting late, the bad habit builds, because people see there's no point in showing up promptly. Here's one solution for late starts: a friend worked at a law firm that started fining partners $100 if they were late to a meeting, which turned out to be very effective. If the meeting has to run long, say, "We're not through with the seven points, so can everyone stay fifteen extra minutes to wrap up?" That way, people know that the end is in sight.

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The ABC Of Successful Meetings:

So here it is. The equivalent of the aubergine ink and the parchment. And I am going to reveal to you THE SECRET. Forget the power to create your own world through visualisation. Imagine you have climbed to the top of a Tibetan mountain monastery and there inside the temple is a scroll next to some smoking incense. Written on the scroll is the SECRET. The one tip you will carry with you. It is, in my words, the ABC of Successful Meetings.

How did I discover this? This week Henry and I have been told that we are probably in pole position to win a site at one of London's best shopping venues. It follows a meeting with the landlord who owns the area, where we applied the ABC of successful meetings. And it is all down to Henry.

The morning started with me on the phone to Henry (he normally cycles but today he was in a local cab from his house in Hackney) and he interrupted, saying 'Oh no, we have to turn round - I've forgotten the cake'. So we finished our call, and I didn't speak or see him before we both pitched up, with Simon the Leon FD, at the landlord's offices.

There were two people from the landlord (one of the big, corporate-ish landlords) and as well as us three, we had Eric our property agent there too. Henry had been finalising our new cake range, made by Clare 'Cup cakes' (I am embarrassed to say we have always called her Clare Cup Cakes so I can't tell you her surname) and had with him a big Chocolate Fantasy Cake. Chocolate, after my family and friends, is the most important thing (am I a girl, because I also like the smell of lavender? Though I like making love to my wife so it is six of one, half a dozen of the other). By happy coincidence, it was Eric's birthday. Eric is very lean and has the sort of metabolism that allows him to eat constantly without having to offset it with an hour in Fitness First.

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Article Source: Running Successful Meetings