Managing All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 4

Conducting Meetings That Work

In This Chapter

Agreeing on the disagreeable qualities of meetings

Ensuring productivity with well-planned agendas

Keeping meetings on track

When you were a kid growing up, you learned some dirty words that were absolutely forbidden at home, right? Now that you're an adult and experienced in the world of work, you've encountered a dirty word that people say out loud in polite company. That word is meeting. Say meeting to employees at all levels and many cringe, grunt, and groan. Why do you think that is?

If you're like many people, you've attended many, many business meetings that just weren't productive. More than once, you've walked out of a meeting feeling worse than when you walked in. You recall that many meetings were a total waste of time. But now that you have a team to run, what's one of the key mechanisms that you need to use for pulling your team members together? Oh, no — MEETINGS!

The good news is that teams can find the right tools and techniques to turn the dreaded “M” word into a clean and positive word, even a way of life. And no religious conversions are necessary, either. Just make sure to pass along the meeting skills ...