Comments on: Talking is not the goal of a meeting

By: shuje

shuje — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:44:02 +0000

True. The larger the list of attendees, the larger the control elements that need to be in place to ensure it goes on smoothly.

By: Matias

Matias — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:26:02 +0000

Very good post dude. I think you approached a cross-industry worldwide problem.

My experience suggests that attendees are also the cornerstone of all meetings, from labor-related ones to after offices. The more people you invite, the less chances of producing an useful outcome. This gets worse if some of the attendees have no vote around the agenda.

Cheers.

By: shuje

shuje — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:10:54 +0000

I believe in every meeting you should have a little bit of small talk before jumping to business. Weather and pubs fall into the small talk category. But if small talk is all the content of the meeting, then definitely something is wrong. Although pubs are a fine damn topic

By: Diego

Diego — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:32:08 +0000

I agree again here with the Agenda. I remember my meetings in UK where people mostly high management gathered just to talk about the weather or pubs instead of making the meeting useful. There were people who spent around half day in meetings and when they came out you could ask them what did they do on that day with the common answer: “Nothing”.

Being a padowan created by Marina I learnt how to drive meetings so far. And this knowledge has been very useful by now.

By: shuje

shuje — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:36:53 +0000

More like GASPING at the essence of human souls.
Thanks Barry.

By: Barry

Barry — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:28:51 +0000

I emphasize the use of Agenda + whiteboard + markers. They’re a must !

In my experience, summing-up conclusions on whiteboard and exposing decisions taken to all participants (by mail, project management app, wiki, etc) guaranteed meeting effectiveness.

Shuje, grasping the essence of human souls as usual, great post.

Cheers!