How many millions of hours will be wasted today in pointless, unplanned and unproductive meetings? Take a guess.

If just 1 person in 20 of America's working population has spent one hour in a useless meeting today (an underestimate, in my opinion) then equivalent of over 120 person years have just been idled away. Almost two whole lifetimes. Every day.

Yet that waste could so easily be avoided.

It has become accepted business mantra: 'let's have a meeting', as if mere act of sitting around a table is going to solve every problem. But in my long experience of trying to focus on issue while looking moderately intelligent while desperately fighting to stay awake, few meetings ever get chance to solve anything for simple reason that they are so badly run.

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No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there.

>> F. Scott Fitzgerald _______________________________________________________

Meetings tend to be held for one (or more) of following reasons:

1. Because Client is paying top dollar for our services and has asked for one.

2. Because nobody has any idea how to resolve current problem, so as many people as possible are gathered together to share failure.

3. Ditto number 2, but with more optimistic expectation that some solution will be eventually hammered out.

4. Because one person is convinced they know best and wants to use a public forum to 'hear (and ignore) everyone's view' before imposing their own.

5. Because it is Monday (or any other day) and we always have a meeting at this time.

6. Because it is better than working.

The problem with vast majority of business meetings is that nobody really takes ownership. A well run, effective meeting is a pleasure to be part of but sadly, training in effective meetings management is rarely given. And so most start at a pretty low level and go downhill from there on in. _______________________________________________________

Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything. >> John Kenneth Galbraith _______________________________________________________

Running good, effective business meetings is a skill that can easily be learned. A whole book could easily be filled with things to do and remember, following 12 key points will help your meetings to be fruitful and your colleagues to stay awake.

1. The first question to ask yourself is whether you really need a meeting at all. Many are held out of habit, or a sense of obligation. Consider a telephone conference call or even an exchange of emails as your first option.

2. Who really needs to be invited? There is often a feeling that 'the more merrier.' This is rarely case. In my experience, smallest number of people involved leads to greatest effect. Make sure that everyone who is there has at least possibility of adding to knowledge of group as a whole. Observers should be avoided at all costs.

When we are talking to others - either face-to-face, or from front of room, our posture, gestures, eye movements and general demeanor communicate far more than our words.

It is said that women interpret up to 80% of meaning of a conversation by non-verbal means. Men fall a bit behind and 'only' rely on non-verbal clues for about 30%. However, in either case, if you are unconsciously giving out wrong signals, meaning behind your intended message will be weakened or lost.

Body language is a vast, fascinating subject, but from a business point of view, there are several pointers that can help to strengthen your message. The aim is to match your audience's unconscious template of what makes a person trustworthy and believable.

Try out these five tips and see if they help you:

1. Personal space. Everybody has a personal space threshold. Generally, Americans and Northern Europeans prefer to stand about a meter (3 feet) apart. People from Southern European and Asian countries are comfortable a little closer. Folks who live in rural areas like a little more space. Social situations allow closer proximities than non-social.

Be aware if person you are talking to is backing up, and try not to intrude on their territory. Otherwise reaction will be defensive or hostile.

2. Eye movements. Many people are nervous about making eye contact - it is vital to overcome that fear if you want to be respected and believed. An evasive or indirect gaze sends out a strong signal of untrustworthiness.

When speaking to a room full of people, it is essential that you allow yourself to make - and maintain for a few seconds - eye contact with everyone in room, over and over.

++++++++++ True Story ++++++++++

I was recently invited to America to give a presentation to about forty business people, few of them known to me. The meeting went well and I made as much eye contact as possible. Afterwards, a guy who had been sitting off to my left came up to me and thanked me for a useful and entertaining talk. Then he said something strange: he apologized for offending me.

Puzzled, I assured him that it wasn't so, and asked why he thought so. This is what he said:

"Oh, I had a very late night last night, and after you had been talking for twenty minutes or so, I couldn't help myself yawn. After that, you didn't make any eye contact with me for rest of session, so I figured I'd upset you."

The truth was, I hadn't seen yawn. He had been sitting just outside my comfortable visual area, and I had been concentrating on eyeballing everyone else in room so hard, that I had missed him out.

I gave him a lot of attention he went away happy. But I couldn't help think that that guy might have been most important person in room and I could have blown whole trip with that stupid act of inattention.

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3. Appearance. It seems old-fashioned to talk about need to be 'well turned out', but axiom that 'you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression' is as true today as ever.