Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 36

THE ART OF A GOOD MEETING

Traders on Wall Street say that “if you don’t know who the fall guy is, you are”. That is a good motto for meetings. If you do not know what your objective is, be prepared to be disappointed. And in practice, never hold a meeting to make a decision: there is a danger that it will be the wrong one.

For every meeting you should know beforehand the outcome you want. And you should have done enough homework beforehand to be sure that you can achieve your outcome. A public setback is very hard to turn around later. Any decision that appears to be made in the meeting should simply be a public confirmation of the ...