How to Lead and Run a Meeting

(http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/11/17/how-to-run-a-meeting/)
Have you ever been at a meeting where all you can think about is how much more productive
youd be working alone at your desk? And how much of the companys money is swirling down
the drain while your coworkers surreptitiously check their Blackberries under the table? And
how you wish you had made like the crew of the Enola Gay and carried a cyanide capsule with
you?
People hate meetings. But its not the meetings themselves that are inherently pencil-in-eye
inducing its how meetings are run. Without a real leader, meetings can become unproductive
and inefficient, not only wasting time and money, but sapping office morale. But it doesnt have
to be this way.
Establish whether the meeting is absolutely necessary. Before you even think about
scheduling a meeting, figure out if you really and truly need one. You should only call for a
meeting if:
The information to be discussed cannot be disseminated via telephone or email.
Meetings should never be called when only a one-way information exchange is needed.

There are clear benefits to having everyone together in one room.

Set an agenda. This is crucial for a productive meeting. Without a clear, pre-set agenda, a
meeting will drift off-topic and interminably drag on. And then when youre done and everyone
has dispersed, youll suddenly remember an important point you forgot to bring up, thus
necessitating another meeting.
Type up an agenda for the meeting with a specific list of what items will be discussed and in
what order. Email everyone a copy a day or two before the meeting to give them a heads up
about what to expect and some time to start thinking about the issues and what theyd like to
contribute. People can also make additions and objections to the agenda before the meeting
instead of at the meeting. Make it clear in your message that if its not on the agenda, it cant
be discussed at the meeting. Paste the agenda into the body of the email. People dont open
attachments.
Make sure key people will be in attendance. If you call a meeting when you know key people
cant come, youll basically spend the meeting trying to talk around them and saying, Well,
well have to wait to see what Mike has to say before we can start on that for sure. Decisions
get deferred, more meetings are necessitated, and you waste time afterwards bringing the MIA
people up to speed. Arrange a meeting for when you know key people can make it.
Talk one-on-one with people to resolve pet issues before the meeting. Even if you make it
clear that only agenda items can be discussed during the meeting, there are always people who
try to break this rule and bring up their favorite pet issue. These people can get the meeting way
off track. If you know someone has an issue that doesnt really affect the group, talk to them

one-on-one before the meeting to preemptively resolve the problem and nip their meeting
interruption in the bud.
Bring bagels or donuts. The only thing that makes meetings a bit more palatable is something
for the palate. Bring something for people to munch on.
Set up the chairs in a U-shape. There are three different ways to set up a meeting room: the Ushape, a circle, or lecture style. Lecture style, with everyone sitting side by side and facing the
front, gives the leader complete control but doesnt allow for any collaboration. The circle lends
itself to a feeling of equality and plenty of group-think, but with no clear leader, the discussion
can easily devolve into a bunch of flapdoodle. The U-shape is the best compromise; it gives
people a chance to share and collaborate, but the guy at the top of the U is recognized as the
leader and can keep things on track.
The circular, uber-democratic, lets hug it out style has been in vogue for a while now, and it
makes everyone feel important, but its also the reason meetings get off-track and become totally
unproductive. The truth is that not everyone does have something important to say, and a leader
is crucial in keeping things focused on the things that matter.
Start on time. And dont recap for late people. Doing so legitimizes lateness and disrespects
those who made an effort to show up on time.
Begin with what was accomplished since the last meeting. Last time we talked about x, and
heres how its been implemented. If you dont want people to feel like meetings are pointless,
you have to offer some proof that theyre not.
Get to the heart of the matter. Remember, meetings are not for the one-way exchange of
information. If theres background information people need to know in order to engage the
issues, circulate this information in a flier or email before the meeting so everyone is up to speed
and you can skip the milk and jump right into the meat. At the meeting, succinctly describe the
issue or problem, and quickly move into coming up with a solution or course of action.
If people havent prepared for the meeting by reading up on the background information or
otherwise, then dissolve the meeting. Moving forward will just be a waste of time. This takes
some balls, but people will come ready next time.
Come up with a tangible solution. Many times during a meeting when people are unable to
attain a consensus, the issue is tabled for the time being, which means of course, that there will
inevitably be another meeting in the future to again address the problem. So whenever possible,
preempt these future meetings by coming up with a concrete solution and specific actions for
people to take. This is where your quality as a leader is tested can you break through the
stalemate, broker a compromise, and come up with a solution?

Control the discussion. Perhaps a leaders most important job is keeping the discussion
productive and on topic. There are several ways to do this:

Get feedback from everyone. Having a clear leader in a meeting does not stifle
feedback and collaboration it ensures it. Without a leader, the opinionated loudmouths,
who do not necessarily have the best ideas, will dominate the discussion, while the more
reticent cant get a word in edgewise. Draw out the quiet people by asking questions like,
Jane, youve had a lot of experience with that company. What is your opinion of their
proposal? Of course, some people are quiet because they have nothing insightful to
offer. A good leader knows which is which.

Ask good questions. Sometimes, people cant come up with the right solution simply
because the leader isnt asking the right questions. Ask questions that will really make
people think and look at something from another angle.

Shut down disruptions. Its perhaps the hardest part of the job, but a leader must
tactfully shut down people who are getting off-track, whether theyre simply going on
and on or theyre just way off-topic. Wait for the bloviator to take a breath, and then say
something like:
o

That might be a good subject to discuss another time, but lets get back to talking
about X.

Why dont the two of us discuss that after the meeting.

Good point, but we need to get back to the agenda.

Lets table that for now, but we can put it on the agenda for next time.

Ive just signaled for Tom to render you unconscious with a blow dart to the
neck.

You dont want to come off as a jerk and cut them off, but its best to err on the side of having a
firm hand. While the windbag may be a bit chastised, everyone else in the meeting will inwardly
be applauding you.
Summarize the meeting. At the end of the meeting, quickly tick off a list of everything you
have accomplished and resolved to do. Delegate tasks and make sure everyone is absolutely
clear on what their individual responsibilities are. Dont ask for other business. Youre just
opening a can of worms. Remember, if its not on the agenda, its not going to be discussed.
End on time. If you want peoples attitudes toward meetings to change, then they have to know
they can trust meetings to start and end at the specified time. Your task as the leader is to set the
pace and keep things moving so you accomplish your goals within the set time.

Follow up and make sure things get done. This is just as important as the meeting itself.
Remember, at the start of the next meeting, youre going to have to summarize what was
accomplished since the last one. You better have something to say.
Of course, if youre not the leader, then there isnt much you can do to curb meeting inanity. But
meetings are a great place to show your potential leadership skills. Come on time, be prepared
with good ideas, and hopefully youll soon be the one standing at the top of the U.
Comments:
One other trick I learned years ago: ask for permission to manage the meeting. Whenever I start
a meeting, I always address the group and let them know how I will run the meeting, how the
agenda will be followed, and how I will handle distractions or sidebars. I basically ask for their
permission to stop idle chatter and give equal time where appropriate. If you do this respectfully,
you can not only command the respect and attention of your peers but your managers/senior staff
as well.
The very few really well-run meetings Ive been a part of have had one element in common from
the leadership/meeting planners they act like sheep dogs; a little nip here, a little bark there,
and pretty soon, the herd is marching right where it needs to be. Always subtle, but always
assertive and always moving this requires good situational awareness on the part of the
meeting leader (hence the rarity of it) and a good deal of practice.
I think the Summarize the meeting paragraph is crucial. Make sure everyone knows their part
in the big picture, and hold them accountable to get it done. The team only works when
everyone does their job. Great post.
I hate meetings, hate em, hate em, hate em! I only call them if I have no alternative, and I
only invite people who can or will have a direct impact on the topic; anyone else receives a
follow-up e-mail. Ive been in way too many meetings where everybody under the sun is invited
so that were all on the same page. Those kinds of meetings always seem to go on for hours
with endless commentary. I think thats just a big waste of peoples time. I prefer the focus of
meetings to be action, not information. Get in, get it done, get out; no more or less time than
necessary.
Also, I make a log of action items and distribute it after the fact. In the next meeting, I make that
the first item on the agenda. People seem to get stuff done if they know theyre going to be
called out in front of others.
At a church, most meetings are evening meetings. When I run meetings, I do new business right
after the e-mailed minutes have been approved. That way, the really heavy agenda items get
discussed while everybody is still fresh. Any committee reports come last, when peoples energy
level is starting to sink. And I always promise people to get them out the door in 1.5 hours. Any
meeting that is much longer than that is spinning its wheels anyway, unless perhaps you are
planning the invasion of Normandy.
While I 100% agree with everything written and wish that was the way meetings were handled,
unfortunately, in my experience, a lot of the offenders were higher-ups. Most of the repeat late

attenders and off-topic-ers were people higher on the chain. Id love to see an addendum to this
post with advice on how to handle/respond to bosses whose habits are perhaps less than
productive (especially in meetings!).

From: How to Run a Meeting

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/10/09/how-to-run-a-meeting-2/)
What should a meeting leader do when someone tries to hijack the agenda? Katz suggests the
leader say, Thank you for bringing up this issue. Its clearly important. Id like to check with
the committee whether its OK if we table that point until we finish with the other items on our
agenda.
What should the leader do when a participant gets horribly long-winded? Wait until the bloviator
takes a breath, and then jump in. First summarize the point, so the person feels hes been heard.
Then say, Youve brought up some important issues. Id like to ask the group if we would like
to continue with your point now or put it at the top of the agenda for the next meeting.

When Is The Best Time for a Meeting?

By Courtney Rubin
(http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/06/best-time-for-meetings.html)

Struggling to get your employees together for meetings? Try suggesting 3:00 PM on a Tuesday,
says a study by online scheduling service When Is Good (http://whenisgood.net/).
Why are people most receptive and willing to accept Tuesday midafternoon invites? People
seem to think they cant leave it much later than 3:00 PM because time might run out, says
research coordinator Keith Harris. They start clock watching. The most important factor,
though, is probably preparation time. If you have a meeting at 9:00 AM, employees will need to
prepare the day before or turn up underprepared. (If youre thinking of arranging a meeting for
9:00 AM on a Monday, only one in three employees is likely to attend, the company found.)
Another way to get people to meetings: Try the Swiss trains approach. Set very specific times
and durations for meetings, such as 10:12 AM to 10:26 AM. Such specificity might bring
people in on time and keep things moving on a tight schedule, leaving no time for the dreaded
any other business, says Philip Delves Broughton, author of What They Teach You At
Harvard Business School. He suggests then breaking the meeting down into even smaller
blocks 90 seconds on this, five minutes on that so nothing gets missed and people
understand they cannot gas on, he says.

A Little Less Conversation by Joel Spolsky

(http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/a-little-less-conversation.html)

We all know that communication is very important and that many organizational
problems are caused by a failure to communicate. Most people try to solve this problem by
increasing the amount of communication: CCing everybody on an e-mail, having long meetings
and inviting the whole staff, and asking for everyones two cents before implementing a decision.
But communication costs add up faster than you think, especially on larger teams. What
used to work with three people in a garage all talking to one another about everything just
doesnt work when your head count reaches 10 or 20 people. Everybody who doesnt need to be
in that meeting is killing productivity. Everybody who doesnt need to read that e-mail is
distracted by it. At some point, over-communicating just isnt efficient.
As companies expand, the people within them start to specialize. At such a point, some
managers will conclude that they have a keep everyone on the same page problem. But often,
what they actually have is a stop people from meddling when there are already enough smart
people working on something problem.
The cost of over-communication within organizations was fleshed out by Fred Brooks in
his 1975 book, The Mythical Man-Month. Brooks helped run the OS/360 project at IBM,
building a giant operating system for the companys mainframes. In those days, computers were
large, room-size, water-cooled machines, sometimes with a massive 256,000 bytes of main
memory. OS/360 was probably the largest software project ever attempted to that point. And it
was monumentally late.
Every time some aspect of the project fell behind schedule, IBM assigned a few more
people to the task. And what Brooks noticed, which still surprises people, is that this didnt
work. His observation came to be known as Brooks Law: Adding people to a late project tends
to make it run later still.
The bigger the team, the worse it gets. When you have a team of one person, you have
no communication requirements. None. Add a second person, and now you have a single
connection: Adam and Mary have to talk to each other once in a while. Now add a third person,
say, Srinivas, and suddenly weve gone from one connection to three, since Srinivas has to talk
to Adam and Mary. Add a fourth person. Im running out of names here to help me out OK:
Britney. If we add her, and she needs to coordinate with all of them, you get six connections. For
the mathematically inclined, the formula is that if you have n people on your team, there are (n2n)/2 connections. This chart illustrates how this becomes a problem:
People Connections
1
0
2
1
3
3

4
5
6
7
8

6
10
15
21
28

http://softskillsforhardjobs.com/how-to-behave-in-a-meeting/
How to Behave in a Meeting
Posted on October 29, 2012 by Jim Ryan
I was in a meeting not too long ago. Fifteen minutes after it started, one of the participants
showed up holding a fresh cup of coffee from a local coffee shop. He made excuses about being
late, but he omitted the one about the long line getting his coffee. He then asked if someone
could catch him up on what he missed. The updates took another five minutes. Then, ten
minutes before it ended, he got up and exclaimed that he had to leave for an important meeting.
By the way, in the meeting he explained that he didnt complete his assigned project, because he
was too busy.
I may be one of the few people in the world that likes meetings. Meetings are pure teamwork.
They are great when the team works as a unit, and they are painful when people dont follow the
code of behavior.
Here are some tips for how to behave in a meeting:
1. Show up. If youre scheduled to go to a meeting, make every attempt to get there. Being
too busy is a poor excuse. Were all busy.
2. Show up on time. Get there five minutes early. If youre late, dont make excuses. Just
apologize and sit down. People use excuses to make themselves feel better; no one else
really cares. If you are habitually late, figure out why, and fix it. And please dont waste
the groups time by having them catch you up.
3. Come prepared. If you are on the agenda or need to read or prepare something for the
meeting, do it.
4. Dont use your phone, email, or text. It doesnt seem like it, but everything can wait.
Put your phone away so you are not tempted to look at it. When you check your phone
during the meeting, you give the impression to the speaker that you are not interested in
what they have to say. You might not be interested, but its better if you dont make it
obvious.
5. Participate. If you dont like talking in meetings, you have to force yourself. I find the
quiet ones often get to the point quickly and have a lot to add.
6. Dont talk to just talk. This is a meeting, not lunch. Dont just say everything thats on
your mind. Before I say something in a meeting, I ask myself, Does it add value to the
conversation? If not, I dont say it.
7. Dont drag on and on. I follow the one-minute rule. Unless you are presenting or
setting up the discussion, once you talk more than a minute, its too long. If you tend to
be a long talker, start timing yourself. A tip to stop someone from going on and on is to
stare at their forehead. Weird, but it works.

8. Dont take the group on meaningless tangents. Sometimes, great new ideas emerge
during a discussion that had nothing to do with the agenda item. Thats OK. Im talking
about tangents that start with Speaking of difficult employees, did anyone see the last
episode of The Walking Dead?
9. Listen to others. Dont be the person who sits on the edge of their seat just waiting for
an opening to say what they want to say.
10. Dont cut people off. Ok, sometimes you need to in order to get into the conversation,
but at least let the other person finish their thought.
11. Watch your non-verbals. Most of our communication comes from the way we posture.
Dont make faces, roll your eyes, cross your arms, or slouch in your chair, unless you
want to send the message that you are extremely disinterested.
12. Dont check out. If the topic doesnt interest you or is important to what you do, suck it
up and listen. Or at least look like you are.
13. Dont be rude. Dont, dont, dont, make snide comments, be sarcastic, pound the table,
or point fingers. More than once, Ive seen this be a career ender.
14. Recognize people. If you like what someone said or did, tell them. Everyone loves
getting recognized in front of their peers.
15. Dont be a show-off. Everyone sees right through that. The meeting is about the team,
not about what a great job you are doing.
16. Ask probing and engaging questions. Most people just make one statement after the
other. If you want the team to consider your idea, try using a question rather than
statement. Stever Robbins covers this in a great podcast.
17. Dont bog the meeting down. If a topic comes up that youre not involved in, dont
expect to be filled in completely in the meeting. Do it later.
18. Assist the facilitator. Do things like stay on agenda, watch the time, and let others
speak.
19. Make it fun. Its ok to laugh in a meeting.
20. Dont carry around your anger. If youre offended by something someone said in a
meeting, let them know right away. Trust me, they didnt do it on purpose, and they had
no idea that they offended you.
21. Dont have side conversations. This is really tough on the meeting facilitator.
22. Dont suggest new work for other people. If its your idea, you own it.

23. Speak up when you disagree. And its not ok to keep quiet and then complain about it.
24. If you have to leave early, let people know up front. Then leave quietly.
25. Let the meeting end. Dont bring up something at the very end of the meeting. Too late,
the meeting is over.
26. Follow through with action steps. Write them down, do them, and then be prepared to
present on what happened.
27. Keep commitments. If a decision was made to do something, do it. And, just because
you dont like it, doesnt mean you can blow it off.
If you want to help others with their behavior in meetings, ask your team to brainstorm their own
list. You can then use the list as ground rules. Its a less confrontational way to get people to
change.

Running Effective Meetings

(http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm)
Establishing an Objective and Sticking to It

There are good meetings and there are bad meetings. Bad meetings drone on forever you never
seem to get to the point, and you leave wondering why you were even present. Effective ones
leave you energized and feeling that youve really accomplished something.
So what makes a meeting effective?
Effective meetings really boil down to three things:
1. They achieve the meetings objective.
2. They take up a minimum amount of time.
3. They leave participants feeling that a sensible process has been followed.
If you structure your meeting planning, preparation, execution, and follow up around these three
basic criteria, the result will be an effective meeting.

1. The Meetings Objective

An effective meeting serves a useful purpose. This means that in it, you achieve a desired
outcome. For a meeting to meet this outcome, or objective, you have to be clear about what it is.
Too often, people call a meeting to discuss something without really considering what a good
outcome would be.

Do you want a decision?

Do you want to generate ideas?

Are you getting status reports?

Are you communicating something?

Are you making plans?

Any of these, and a myriad of others, is an example of a meeting objective. Before you do any
meeting planning, you need to focus your objective.
To help you determine what your meeting objective is, complete this sentence:
At the close of the meeting, I want the group to ...
With the end result clearly defined, you can then plan the contents of the meeting and determine
who needs to be present.

2. Use Time Wisely

Time is a precious resource, and no one wants their time wasted. With the amount of time we all
spend in meetings, you owe it to yourself and your team to streamline the meeting as much as
possible. Whats more, time wasted in a meeting is time wasted for everybody attending. For
example, if a critical person is 15 minutes late in an eight-person meeting, that person has cost
the organization two hours of lost activity.
Starting with your meeting objective, everything that happens in the meeting itself should further
that objective. If it doesnt, its superfluous and should not be included.
To ensure you cover only what needs to be covered and stick to relevant activities, you need to
create an agenda. The agenda is what you will refer to in order to keep the meeting running on
target and on time.
To prepare an agenda, consider the following factors:

Priorities what absolutely must be covered?

Results what needs to be accomplished at the meeting?

Participants who needs to attend the meeting for it to be successful?

Sequence in what order will you cover the topics?

Timing how much time will you spend on each topic?

Date and Time when will the meeting take place?

Place where will the meeting take place?

With an idea of what needs to be covered and for how long, you can then look at the information
that should be prepared beforehand. What do the participants need to know to make the most of
the meeting time? And, what role are they expected to play during the meeting so they can
prepare properly?

If its a meeting to solve a problem, ask the participants to come prepared with a viable solution.
If you are discussing an ongoing project, have each participant summarize his or her progress to
date and circulate the reports amongst members.
Assigning a particular topic of discussion to various people is another great way to increase
involvement and interest. On the agenda, indicate who will lead the discussion or presentation of
each item.
Use your agenda as your time guide. When you notice that time is running out for a particular
item, consider hurrying the discussion, pushing to a decision, deferring discussion until another
time, or assigning it for discussion by a subcommittee.
An important aspect of running effective meetings is insisting that everyone respects the time
allotted. Start the meeting on time, do not spend time recapping for latecomers, and, when you
can, finish on time. Whatever can be done outside the meeting time should be. This includes
circulating reports for people to read beforehand and assigning smaller group meetings to discuss
issues relevant to only certain people.

3. Satisfying Participants that a Sensible Process Has Been Followed

Once you have an agenda prepared, you need to circulate it to the participants and get their
feedback and input. Running a meeting is not a dictatorial role: You have to be participative
right from the start.
Perhaps there is something important that a team member has to add. Maybe you have allotted
too much, or too little, time for a particular item. There may even be some points youve
included that have been settled already and can be taken off the list for discussion. Whatever the
reason, it is important you get feedback from the meeting participants about your proposed
agenda.
Once in the meeting, to ensure maximum satisfaction for every participant, there are several
things you should keep in mind:

If certain people are dominating the conversation, make a point of asking others for their
ideas.

At the end of each agenda item, quickly summarize what was said, and ask people to
confirm that thats a fair summary. Then make notes regarding follow-up.

Note items that require further discussion.

Watch body language and make adjustments as necessary. Maybe you need a break or
you need to stop someone from speaking too much.

Ensure the meeting stays on topic.

List all tasks that are generated at the meeting. Make a note of who is assigned to do
what and by when.

At the close of the meeting, quickly summarize the next steps, and inform everyone that
you will be sending out a meeting summary.

After the meeting is over, take some time to debrief, and determine what went well and what
could have been done better. Evaluate the meetings effectiveness based on how well you met
the objective. This will help you continue to improve your process of running effective
meetings. You may even want to get the participants feedback as well. Depending on the time
frame, this debriefing can be done within the meeting itself or afterward.
Finally, prepare the meeting summary. This will be forwarded to all participants and other
stakeholders. It is a record of what was accomplished and who is responsible for what as the
team moves forward. This is a very crucial part of effective meetings that often gets overlooked.
You need a written record of what transpired along with a list of actions that named individuals
have agreed to perform. Make sure someone is assigned to take notes during the meeting if you
think you will be too busy to do so yourself.

Key Points:
Running an effective meeting is more than sending out a notice that your team is to meet at a
particular time and place. Effective meetings need structure and order. Without these elements,
they can go on forever and not accomplish a single thing.
With a solid objective in mind, a tight agenda, and a commitment to involving the meeting
participants in the planning, preparation, and execution of the meeting, you are well on your way
to chairing great meetings.
Given the frustration most people feel when their time is wasted, gaining a reputation for running
efficient and successful meetings is good for you and your career.

Fourteen Tips for Running a Good Meeting

(http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/07/14-tips-for-running-a-good-meeting/)

1. Very obvious: Start on time, and end on time. Once people see that meetings are starting
late, the bad habit builds, because people see theres no point in showing up promptly. Heres
one solution for late starts: a friend worked at a law firm that started fining partners $100 if they
were late to a meeting, which turned out to be very effective. If the meeting has to run long, say,
Were not through with the seven points, so can everyone stay 15 extra minutes to wrap up?
That way, people know the end is in sight.
2. At the same time, remember that its helpful to spend a little time to chit-chat. For a long
time, I didnt believe this to be true, and I tried to be hyper-efficient, but now I realize that its
important and productive for people to have a chance to relate on a personal level. People
need a chance to build friendships, show their personalities, and establish rapport. Meetings are
very important for this process.
3. If some people hesitate to jump in, find a way to draw them out. Ability to grab the floor
doesnt necessarily correlate with capacity to contribute.
4. One of the most insightful things my father ever told me was, If youre willing to take the
blame, people will give you the responsibility. Meetings often involve blame-giving and
blame-taking, and although its not pleasant to accept blame, its a necessary aspect of getting
responsibility (if deserved, of course). Proving my fathers point, one of my best meeting
experiences ever was a time when I took the blame rightly for something done by a team of
people working with me. Doing this ended up dramatically increasing my organizational
credibility on all sides.
5. Share the credit. Along with blame, a meeting is also a great place to give people credit for
their ideas and accomplishments. Be quick to point out great work or to call for a round of
applause for a colleague. For some reason, people often act as though credit is a zero-sum
goody, and if they share credit, theyll get less themselves. From what Ive seen, sharing credit
not only doesnt diminish the number of gold stars you get, but adds to them because people so
admire the ability to give credit.
6. Making people feel stupid isnt productive, and it isnt kind. A friend has a good
suggestion: Be cheerfully, impersonally decisive.
7. Have an agenda and stick to it. If possible, circulate the agenda in advance, along with
anything else that needs to be read to prepare for the meeting. Make sure people know if they
should bring anything. Along the same lines
8. Never go to a meeting if you dont know why youre supposed to be there! This seems
obvious, but its a situation that arises surprisingly frequently.

9. Standing meetings should be kept as short as possible and very structured. Have rules for
canceling the meeting when appropriate if such-and-such doesnt happen, if only a certain
number of people can attend, etc.
10. Dont say things that will undermine or antagonize other people. Turns out they do in
fact notice this, and they dont appreciate it.
11. Be very specific about what the action items are (to use the business school term). Who
is agreeing to do what by when? Make sure someone is keeping track of what is supposed to
happen as a consequence of the meeting, and at the meetings end, review those items so its
crystal clear to everyone. Follow up by email.
12. If a meeting is long, schedule breaks when people can check their email and phones.
Otherwise, they get very distracted by feeling theyve been out of touch for too long (for some
people, this takes about ten minutes), and they start sneakily emailing under the table. As if no
one will notice. Which they do.
13. Meetings should stay tightly focused. If people want a chance to discuss side issues,
theoretical problems, or philosophical questions that arent relevant to the purpose of the
meeting, they should set up a separate meeting.
14. Heres a radical solution: no chairs. In Bob Suttons terrific book, The No A**** Rule ,
(printed that way not out of prudery, but to avoid spamblockers), he points to a study that showed
that people in meetings where everyone stood took 34% less time to make an assigned decision,
with decisions that were just as good as those made by groups who were sitting down.