[Biz] Conducting Efficient Meetings

At Half-Price Books, a great used book store in town, I bought the book The Time Trap (How to Get More Done in Less Time) by R. Alec Mackenzie a few weeks or back. As you can imagine, this book is on how to spend time more efficiently--specifically on management and procedures in the professional environment. Though the book was written in 1972, many of the values still hold today which is very cool considering that the book is falling apart and I only paid $3 for it. That's one reason I like used book stores by the way--you can acquire things that are worth a lot of value in knowledge improvement for a low monetary value.

Anyways, one chapter that struck home with me was on meetings. I don't agree with everything but I'll summarize what I do agree with:

BEFORE MEETING

1. Explore alternatives to the meeting. Is this necessary?
2. Limit attendance to time only needed to make your contribution.
3. Keep attendance small. Only those needed should come.
4. Define purpose before calling meeting.
5. Distribute agenda in advance.
6. Time-limit meeting and agenda. Allocate time according to its relative importance.

DURING MEETING

1. Start on time. No substitute.
2. Start with and stick to agenda.
3. Allow interruptions for emergency purposes only.
4. Restate conclusions and assignments to insure agreement.
5. End on time.

AFTER MEETING

1. Distribute minutes within the next 24 hours. Minutes are a reminder and useful followup tool.
2. Provide followups! List uncompleted actions under "Unfinished Business" for next meeting's agenda.
3. Make a committee inventory and survey committees to see whether objectives have been achieved. Abolish those that are already done.