Effective meeting

"There's no way we can come to a decision yet - this meeting has only lasted 30 minutes."

Three Steps to a Successful Meeting:

Your meetings will be shorter and more productive if you use this simple formula.

1. Create an agenda ahead of time. Display it on the conference room projector
2. Assign action items to each person in real time, displaying the agenda in visual format. Everyone in the meeting sees the action item assigned. There is no room for different interpretations of action taken and the person assigned the task is publically accountable for completing it.
3. Distribute the action item document, in visual format (which becomes the minutes of the meeting), to each attendee.

Ensuring that a Meeting is Profitable

A successful meeting is one that produces real, tangible results. Schedule a follow-up meeting. Start it by displaying the same action item document publicly. Review the status of each action item. Anyone who has promised to get something done is now accountable to everyone else. You'll soon find that:

• Meetings are shorter and to the point.
• What's promised actually gets done.
• Everyone is on the same page.

(Source: SmartDraw template advertisement)