Make meetings matter

Make meetings matter

One key reason to have a meeting is to make a decision. And often this does not go well. You’ve been in a meeting like this. A group of smart people come together to discuss important topics, but nobody really knows who will or how to decide on an action (or...
What are you doing in meetings?

What are you doing in meetings?

You know what you need to achieve. The right people are in the room. You have plenty of coffee and snacks to keep the group energized. Your meeting is off to a great start, but how do you make sure that you get the results you need? Humanergy starts meetings by...
Three reasons NOT to have a meeting

Three reasons NOT to have a meeting

I saw a post today about how to drastically cut meeting time by sending out relevant materials in advance and proceeding right to discussion. Margaret Heffeman writes in her blog at cbsnews.com that assuming people do their homework and proceeding right to discussion...
Meetings: Indispensable or waste of time?

Meetings: Indispensable or waste of time?

People hate meetings. Or at least they feel strongly enough about them to create a seemingly-endless list of negative quotes about meetings. Here are more of our favorites, this time with a “committee” focus. “To kill time, a committee meeting is the...
“People who enjoy meetings…

“People who enjoy meetings…

…should not be in charge of anything.” Or so said Thomas Sowell. A quick perusal of on-line quotation sites gives you a gauge of how people feel about meetings. Quotations on the subject are universally negative. This one’s by Dave Barry: “If...