The USA article “Tame the meeting beast with these 8 tips” sheds light on something most of us already know: much of our time spent in meetings is a waste of time!

When you consider that we spend a great part of our time in meetings (what else is a work day but an endless series of meetings?), 50% waste is a huge misuse of organizational resources!!

What can be done? The author offers some ideas, some of which have merit but others which are just not practical (meetings on stairs? hmm!). Here are sure 7 ways to make your meetings more effective and to please those who attend:

1. Define why the meeting is necessary. This is the meeting purpose.
2. Identify the deliverables, the tangible outcomes that should result from the meeting. These are the meeting objectives. Without them, it’s not possible to know or evaluate the effectiveness of the meeting.
3. Outline a specific agenda to produce the outcomes. This is where you get down and tactical. What questions will you use? How will you document the discussion? How much time will you spend? What will you do if this or that happens? How will you achieve closure?
4. Sequence the discussion items in a logical and practical way.
5. Decide how much time you will spend in each discussion item.
6. Define how you will document actions/decisions and how and when to follow up.
7. Identify and plan for logistical requirements.

Here I’m describing what would work for most business meetings on a daily basis. Large meetings (conferences, off sites, retreats, workshops, etc.) may require more preparation but the same 7 basic principles will apply.

What’s your experience? How can you make meetings more successful?