10 things you can do to turn useless meetings into productive ones

Overview: We've all had to sit through meetings that were nothing but a waste of our time. Here are some tactics you can use to salvage something productive from the ones that drag on forever or go completely off the rails.

There's no shortage of books offering suggestions for effectively managing meetings. But what about those meetings you don't control? Instead of retreating to IM to try to accomplish something or distract yourself from tedious discussions, consider some of these suggestions from IT consultant Shannon Kalvar:

• Know why the organizer called the meeting. Do not wait for an agenda. Instead, take a moment to contact the meeting organizer before the meeting. Ask him to explain to you, in 10 words or less, what he wants from the meeting. Once you know what he wants, you can help him achieve it.
• Know what you want from the meeting. Finding out what the meeting organizer wants allows you to help him; knowing what you want from the meeting allows you to help yourself. So before the meeting begins, set yourself one action item you absolutely need to accomplish with this group of people at this time.
• Ask for action items. The meeting ends, someone cleans up the conference room, and... then what? Ask the meeting organizer for action items as the meeting starts to wind down. If need be, prompt him by asking if he wants you to take care of one or more items you noted during the meeting. Or make some up if you have a good idea of what needs to be done.
• End the meeting when it's done. Meetings, with or without agendas, often drag on long past their useful lifespan. People get lost in quagmires or the meeting organizer forgets what he's there for. Nothing gets done, but no one can escape without offending the powers that be. Fortunately, you have a description of the meeting's goal from your previous research. Ask the meeting organizer if he has achieved his goal. If not, help him get to it. If yes, mercifully end the meeting before everyone goes insane.

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Format: PDF | Size: 62KB | Date: Jan 2006 | Version: 1.0 | System Requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or later | License: copyright | Downloads: 16229