Oh, the meetings. Every office has them and usually they are necessary. But spending too much time in meetings does take away from the actual work that needs to be accomplished each day.

Meetings can be more effective. At the Setcom Media office, we’ve implemented new meeting guidelines and rules. Each meeting has an agenda, a meeting leader, a meeting facilitator (to keep the participants on topic) and a time keeper (to ensure we stick to the time allotted in the agenda).

Meeting participants also follow meeting rules, including starting meetings on time, coming prepared, engaging in open discussion regardless of who is in the room and having fun. Meetings don’t have to be stuffy acts of torture; they can be fun, productive and efficient.

BusinessWeek had a cover story late last year about how to “kill meetings.” Put that on your cover and you’re sure to sell copies.

Here’s another story from BusinessWeek in which Marissa Mayer, Google's vice-president of search products, offers her meeting tips (set an agenda, stick to the clock, assign a note-taker). The story notes Mayer has 70 meetings a week.  Wow. I will never complain about meetings again.

Post a comment sharing your tips for how to have successful and efficient meetings. And then be grateful you aren’t having 70 meetings a week.

Holly Fisher
Electronic Media Editor

Comments (1) >>

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written by Ann on February 28, 2007

testing out the comment fuction here on this blog.

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