Meetings Matter
| posted by Heath RowOver at the Nub, contributor Jon comments on a Financial Times article about the value of meetings. While there are many meetings worth participating in, many agree that most meetings don't work.
To continue today's informal theme of optimism, here are five reasons meetings can matter:
- talking to humans makes a pleasant change from staring at a computer screen
- meetings are at best an easy way of getting things done; at worst, a guilt-free way of doing nothing
- meetings tell you a lot about what type of people your colleagues are
- perform well in a meeting and boost your ego in the process
- the ritual of coffee and biscuits is an agreeable one
Comment
Recent Comments | 2 Total
March 30, 2004 at 9:15am
Jane LindleyAlong the theme of optimism... most people don't come prepared to meetings, so if you show up ready to discuss the topic at hand, you can usually run the meeting and get the information you need.
The best advice I ever received about meetings (besides coming prepared) is to ensure that tasks are assigned at the end of the meeting. How many meetings have you gone to where info is discussed, but nothing is resolved? In my book that's a big waste of time.
March 30, 2004 at 3:02pm
www.stellarplanners.comAs a corporate Meetings Professional, my clients confess they are continually challenged to keep their meeting attendees engaged. Here is one suggestion my company would like to share on how to make your next meeting 'optimistic'...
How do you keep the board meeting from becoming a "bored" meeting? Could meetings with your team members be more productive? Ask almost any colleague about meetings and you will likely get a response that is less than positive. Many meetings miss their mark simply for the lack of planning or preparation. The top 3 reasons why meetings fail:
1. Getting off the subject
2. Lack of agenda or goals
3. Lasting too long
GAMES however, can make your meetings more engaging, more productive and more cost-effective.
Games have been used to complement and enhance meetings ever since it was revealed that people have very short attention spans. Research has shown that the average attention span varies anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 minutes! You can understand then, why people become easily bored (or overwhelmed) with technical material and have a much better response to a meeting that has life and variety. In addition, our television-oriented society has conditioned many of us to expect drama, and excitement in our daily lives. Games can help your meeting become lively, fast – paced, innovative, and participatory as they focus the attention on the needs of the attendees, not on those of the meeting leader.