Make Meetings Matter: Ban Boredom, Co-Opt Confusion, and Eliminate Time Wasting

Do you dread meetings? At their worst, they can be aimless, boring and discouraging. However, at their best, meetings can be productive - even energizing. Charlie Hawkins shows you how to make that happen. He deconstructs meeting dynamics and offers tips for planning, running and ending meetings seamlessly. In well-structured lessons, he explains why meetings sometimes falter and equips you with the tools you need to keep them on course. Whether you are organizing a one-on-one session or gathering your whole team, getAbstract encourages you to boost your meeting IQ with this quick review of the basics.

People dread their business meetings . . . why? The answer is simple, most of the time, they could skip it and not miss a thing. "Make Meetings Matter: Ban Boredom, Control Confusion, and Terminate Time Wasting" is a guide for business leaders to make their corporate meetings actually mean something, by keeping meetings as something that makes things get done instead of simply being lip service to company unity. "Make Meetings Matter" is vital to those who want their company rolling at maximum efficiency, and would be an excellent addition to community library business collections.

I hate meetings. Charlie Hawkins understands why I hate them and why you probably hate them, too. He lays out some clear and simple rules to help us have meetings with a real purpose, how to use the meetings to move towards accomplishing those purposes, and how to evaluate them for effectiveness. Would that every meeting used these rules. The are: Before the Meeting: The 4 Ps of Planning Purpose - know why you are meeting People - who should participate and the roles they play Place - make the most of your space - real or virtual Preparation - create an agenda and come ready to play During the Meeting: The 4 Fs of Flow Focus - stay on track and on time Facilitation - keep the discussions energized and relevant Feedback - evaluate ideas without crushing them Fun and Fellowship - ways to lighten up At the End and After the Meeting: The 4 Cs of Completion Consensus - decisions everyone can live with and support Closure - clear follow-up action steps Critique and Celebration - evaluate group effectiveness Communications - publish a summary of the meeting The last three chapters cover: How to deal with disruptive behaviors during meetings Using technology to enhance meetings (rather than becoming the point of the meeting) One-on-One meetings. The Appendices provide you with a meeting planning template, idea generations meeting summary, and checklist for meeting effectiveness with a sample. Hawkins writes with a light touch and even uses a number of quite humorous cartoons. He begins each chapter with "truths you never hear" or "truths you would like to hear" or something like them. There are lots of lists and bullet points, especially in summarizing the point of the chapter. I think if we all used this book the meetings we had to participate in would surely be fewer, have better focus, be shorter, and with better follow up. A blessing for all. Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI