Sure, I sort-of stole Jonathan’s blog title from yesterday, but it’s still a good title.
“Always Postpone Meetings with Time Wasting Morons”
- Scott Adams
Fortunately I don’t work with anyone even remotely like the characters in Scott Adams’ Dilbert cartoon except… well, I’ll let you judge for yourself). 
But I have learned a few things about running effective team meetings.
Follow these steps and all your wildest dreams will come true.
1. Take the time to think about who really needs to be there. Never, never invite someone just because you can.
2. Email the agenda ahead of time and ask attendees to DO something before the meeting. If you don’t do this, meeting time will become disengagement time. Your co-workers are working hard all day. Meetings can easily become a time to check-out for a hour and rest your brain.
3. Be on time. The more people there are, the more important this maxim is for your meeting. Do the math. 2 minutes late x 5 people waiting for you = 10 minutes of wasted time. When you’re late, everyone is late, and that adds up fast!
4. Hold each other accountable. Leave the meeting with clear action items. Know what each person is responsible for. Write it down and send it to everyone post meeting.
5. Set a time limit for the meeting and tell everyone what it will be. Transparency is a good time keeper.
6. Be clear in your communication and open in your thoughts. A successful meeting is a meeting where every participant has clearly and openly stated their thoughts. Your unique perspective is why you were invited to the meeting. Share it.
7. Use a good calendar sharing tool. Google Calendar is fantastic.
Now, go hold a prodigious meeting of your own.
