4) Support learning. If you’re boss, set an example of active learning. Attend workshop. Then use what you learned. Encourage others to apply new skills and reward those who make a special effort to do so. Also, recommend articles, books, and other materials that support training program. Create a work culture that recognizes learning as key to excellence.

5) Buy smart. Match type of program with desired skills. Use employees for proprietary operations, routine procedures, and high volume (more than 50 sessions/year) tutorials. Select programs that teach skills required to meet company goals. Buy programs that show practical techniques (instead of facts and trivia) delivered by experts who use what they teach.

A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map.

A teleconference without an agenda is like a journey without a map, in dark.

Most meetings are social street lamps attracting unproductive moths in an organization.

People fail to prepare an agenda for two reasons. They think they’re saving time and they don’t know what to put in it.

Expecting a meeting to produce results without an agenda is like expecting Easter bunny to leave eggs under your pillow.

Bad meetings waste a fortune. My surveys show that companies waste almost 20% of their payroll on bad meetings.