If any of you feel that there is no life in your meetings, as I occasionally hear some of the brethren say, then it becomes your duty to go and instill life into that meeting, and do your part to produce an increase of the Spirit and power of God in the meetings in your locality.
An essential question to answer at the start of any meeting is What do we want to accomplish here, and by what time?
Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.
There are four primary reasons to hold a meeting: to influence others, to make decisions, to solve problems, or to strengthen relationships. Since all of these are active processes, passive passengers in a meeting rarely do quality work.
Spend the last three minutes of every meeting to clarify what the next actions are, who is responsible for them, and when you’ll follow-up. The very next meeting MUST begin with a review of those actions. If you don’t do this, your meetings are activity without achievement.
When leaders share their opinions before hearing others’, they inadvertently “anchor” the discussion, causing others to sway to the opinion of the boss. So, if you’re the boss seeking input, hold your tongue until after your team members have spoken.
It's very difficult to actually find time to build innovative products when you're stuck in 6 hour-long meetings most days (i.e. there's little time left for actually "doing" the innovative work instead of just talking about it).
Let’s not complicate things with additional meetings, expectations, or requirements. Keep it simple. It is in that simplicity that you will find the peace, joy, and happiness I have been talking about.
They encourage social interaction. Most people don’t enjoy working alone; they want contact and relationships with other people. Meetings make them feel part of a community, and give them an outlet for sharing their personal feelings and opinions, not only on work issues but also on personal or political topics. So, some of the seemingly off-target chatter in meetings (even the complaining) is actually the realization of an important social outlet. They keep everyone in the loop. As firms have become more matrixed and interdependent, meetings serve as the informal loom that weaves together the organizational threads. People need to know what’s going on in other parts of the organization. They need informal sources to supplement the formal communication mechanisms — and to guide them through political and personal minefields. These information networks are created, reinforced and expanded through meetings. They often represent status. Membership on multiple committees means that you are important, your opinion is valued, and you have a seat at a decision-making table. Attendance at staff meetings means that you are part of the leadership team. Even being asked to present or answer questions at a meeting on a one-time basis gives you visibility with senior people and is status-enhancing.