Productivity: Useful Meetings

Aaron, of the Dumb Little Man blog, just posted a helpful reminder that includes eight tips we all [should] intuitively know in order to keep meetings focussed and useful. I think we've all experienced "those" types of work meetings; whereby hours pass and very little progress, if any, has been made. The result is wasted time, wasted money, and often frustration and confusion.

Aaron writes:

The phenomenon of chronic, pointless meetings is also known as the Dilbert Meeting in some circles. Dilbert Meetings happen every day, wasting people's time and patience.

Meetings can be quite productive, but most organizers simply don’t take the steps to guarantee that a meeting will be useful.

Aaron then lists and expands upon the following eight points:

• Have a clear agenda
• Make sure that only attendees are people who need to be present
• Establish objectives for the meeting
• Have the attendees prepare in advance (if necessary)
• Keep it short
• Record key points and decisions
• Create action items and assign them
• Report progress and follow-up

I believe it's important for all of us who propose meetings to incorporate the above points into how we organize and run our meetings. The result will be better for the business, and better for the development and morale of those attending.

Steve Zenone
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