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CHAPTER 27

Give Your Standing Meetings a Makeover

by Martha Craumer

Regularly scheduled meetings (staff meetings, progress report meetings, and sales meetings) sometimes seem to be called out of habit or a sense of duty rather than need. They’re valuable not only for the information they allow people to share but also for the face time they offer. However, their importance doesn’t necessarily make them interesting. Meeting with the same people in the same room every week to discuss the same topics can get boring, resulting in many empty chairs—and a lack of enthusiasm among the remaining attendees. Here are some ways to keep your regular meetings fresh—and attendance high.

Regularly review the meeting’s purpose

From time to time remind participants ...