Better: Prepare an agenda or, if you are too busy, ask someone to do it for you. Then send agenda to participants so that they can prepare for meeting.

Myth 5: Minutes are unnecessary. This is true for any meeting where people wasted time producing nothing. Effective meetings produce results that are worth documenting. Minutes serve to track action items, record decisions, and inform others. If you are planning a meeting with no results worth documenting, ask yourself why that meeting is necessary.

Better: Record key ideas, agreements, and action items during meeting. Then convert these notes into minutes.

Myth 6: Meetings should last a long time. While this may be true for some meetings, most meetings can be conducted in less than an hour. Long, casual meetings lull people into lethargy. In general, people are able to focus on a task for 30 to 60 minutes. Then their attention fades and they take mental holidays to think about other things.

Better: Plan meetings where you spend time and resources in proportion to value of results. That is, an effective meeting should be designed to earn a profit. Also, plan short breaks every 50 minutes.

Myth 7: The effectiveness of meetings is a low priority. This is true if you seldom hold meetings. Of course, if you have more than two employees, you need meetings to make decisions, reach agreements, and develop solutions. Effective meetings are a critically essential activity in running a business. They harness combined wisdom of your staff to invent products, increase sales, improve productivity, plan strategies, and create success.

Better: Learn how to plan and conduct meetings that make your business a success.

4. Match - nothing helps build relationships by matching tone, volume of voice. By taking same body posture. By paying attention to their eyes (whilst nor staring).

5. Have fun - nothing works better to build relationships than by having a foundation of a fun time together. So laugh, take time to 'play' and be informal. Take part.

5 Questions

1. What do you know about your people outside business? 2. When was last time you asked them about something important to them?

3. What percentage of your people do you speak to every day? 4. Who have you shared your hopes, fears, worries and excitements about your organisation with this week? 5. What three steps can you take to build relationships between you and your people - in next three working days?

There is no time like present to start and to focus on Relationship Building. It is basis of all you do when you manage others.