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Nilofer Merchant: Got a meeting? Take a walk. David Grady: Comment sauver le monde (ou du moins vous-même) des mauvaises réunions. Do you run meetings or lead them? Why do some online meetings get the job done, while others don't?

Do you run meetings or lead them?

Sometimes a team can jump on WebEx or GoToMeeting and move your project or team forward while others times they just suck the psychic marrow from everyone's bones. What's the difference? Any meeting , whether in a conference room or on the web, can be run. The successful meetings are led. All meetings need to be kicked off, managed and eventually wrapped up. What's the difference? Meeting runners: Schedule a meeting. Meeting leaders: Schedule the meeting in a way that helps people come prepared and focused. Meeting runners: Kick off the meeting and run through the agenda in order, often getting the little administrative stuff out of the way first. All the Charts, Tables, and Checklists You Need to Conduct Better Meetings. The ripple effects of too many meetings can be astonishing.

All the Charts, Tables, and Checklists You Need to Conduct Better Meetings

Take this quick and horrifying interactive: It shows how a weekly excom meeting at one company generated a total of 300,000 person hours per year to support it: But there’s hope! While a whole host of cultural changes need to take place to make meetings at your organization more productive and efficient, a few good tools can also go a long way in keeping everyone on the right track (and out of your Outlook calendar when there’s no reason for you to go there). First, of course, you have to decide whether you need a meeting in the first place: No gathering required? One of the questions you need to ask is who, exactly, should be invited.

A Checklist for Planning Your Next Big Meeting. In theory, everyone understands that preparation can make or break an important meeting. The more work you do before you walk into the room, the more productive and efficient you’ll be. But who has the time to properly prepare? Our checklist makes meeting prep quick and easy—be sure to print it out or save it for later.

Each step is described in more detail below. Using the checklist and the principles behind it will ensure that you’ve covered all your bases—and that you won’t be wasting anyone’s time (including your own). Identify the purpose of the meeting. Do You Really Need to Hold That Meeting? 9 Science-Backed Methods for a Happier, More Productive Meeting. If you have ever wanted to pop an escape hatch or teleport to distant worlds just to get out of a meeting, take heart.

9 Science-Backed Methods for a Happier, More Productive Meeting

There are ways to hold a better meeting. Forward-thinking companies have found creative ways to get their teams together, and their lessons and structure can be easily duplicated in meetings anywhere. These creative methods aren’t just clever for cleverness’s sake: Most of them are science-backed and all of them are grounded in successful experience. With just a handful of hacks, meetings can be speedier, more productive, and more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Here are 9 outside-the-box ideas—and the science and success behind them—that you can discuss … at your next meeting, I guess. The Right Way to End a Meeting. A common complaint among managers is that the conversations they have with employees aren’t producing results: “We keep talking about the same issue over and over, but nothing seems to ever happen!”

The Right Way to End a Meeting

That’s because most managers are missing a vital skill: the ability to deliberately close a conversation. If you end a conversation well, it will improve each and every interaction you have, ultimately creating impact. Meetings are really just a series of conversations — an opportunity to clarify issues, set direction, sharpen focus, and move objectives forward. To maximize their impact, you need to actively design the conversation. While the overall approach is straightforward – and may seem like basic stuff — not enough managers are actually doing this in practice: Set up each conversation so everyone knows the intended outcomes and how to participate. I recently worked with a university president who requested that I come in to help with some leadership training. Productivity Hacks: I Want My Employees to Stand Around.

10 Etiquette Rules For Meetings That Every Professional Needs To Know. Mike Nudelman / Business Insider Even if you dread them, meetings put you in front of coworkers and bosses who you may not work with on a regular basis.

10 Etiquette Rules For Meetings That Every Professional Needs To Know

That means how you conduct yourself in them may leave a lasting impression. Is it acceptable to eat during a meeting, or check your phone? Should you be the person asking questions at the end? If broken, the unwritten rules of meeting professionalism may damage your reputation. To get a better idea of how to maintain a positive, professional image while in a meeting, we reached out to Barbara Pachter, career coach and author of the book "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette," who gave us 10 rules you should know: 1.

Make sure you come on time and prepare for the meeting ahead of time, says Pachter. "Leaders need to start on time so people can depend on that," she tells us. 2. If everyone doesn't know one another in the meeting room, you need to make introductions. For example, "Ms. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Do You Need That Meeting? I’m sitting in Kevin Hoffman‘s session at UI18 on Running Better Meetings.

Do You Need That Meeting?

He makes good arguments about facilitation and visual thinking and how they impact the quality of what happens during meetings. But after my experience at WordPress.com, where meetings were rare, I now struggle to comprehend how many meetings most workplaces have. What evidence is there that we need these things? Many people complain about how much time they spend in meetings, yet the meetings go on. Even back at Microsoft I had this rule about recurring meetings: at meeting birth, it should be planned that they will die. The frequency and nature of meetings is an artifact of culture. Creative meetings with 10 or 15 people in the room expresses a lack of trust of creatives. Meetings Are Toxic. Do you really need a meeting?

Meetings Are Toxic

Meetings usually arise when a concept isn't clear enough.