10-Second Tips: Improve Meetings

Meetings are the bane of every manager's existence. The 10-Second Internet Manager provides many tips for more effective meetings.. Here are a few of those tips along with community discussion.

"Ownership, not action, is often the stumbling block in meetings. Assign responsibility for follow-up for the meeting topic to an individual and then move on to the next topic!" —10-Second Internet Manager

"Let people opt 'in' or 'out' of attending a meeting. (And, if you can't 'sell' the meeting, maybe you shouldn't be having one!)" —10-Second Internet Manager

"Ask all attendees why they came and what they expect out of the meeting." —Mitch T. (site submission)

"Rotating the seating arrangement will

reduce 'side meetings' and encourage different people to interact with each other. The chair/facilitator especially should sit in a different place from time to time to gain different perspectives." —Dennis C.(site submission)

"Fifteen minutes into a meeting, stop. Ask whether your meeting is making customers happier. If not, adjourn." —Alan Rothman, Radio DJ

"Lock the door and don't let late attendees in. Or, take away any extra chairs and, when you let them in, make them stand." —Gov't IS Executive

"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings'." —Dave Barry

"Operate on frequent ad-hoc meetings. We facilitate this by structuring our open-door offices in a circle around a central bull-pen. We use frequent, casual conversations to make decisions." —Steve Jurvetson of Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson

Do you have a tip for better meetings? Click here

If you see tips you like, you can send this page to a friend. Visit other chapters to find more "10-second tips."

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