Meeting. A coming face to face for friendly or hostile ends. >> Chambers 20th Century Dictionary. _______________________________________________________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.
A good way to limit numbers is to work out rough cost of all participants. Ten people in a meeting whose average salary is $60,000 comes to over $330 per hour. Add in a notional room hire cost and refreshments and you can see that even a short meeting can cost your company serious money. Money which is probably used more effectively if half of those ten people are left to get on with their real jobs. _______________________________________________________
