Hate Meetings?

I do. (Unless they are promised to be no more than 30 minutes, or delicious snacks will be served.)

So does Dave Barry who wrote, “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’”

If you regularly schedule meetings, consider these efficiency strategies from Get More Done Time Study Consulting. (If you are a schedulee rather than a scheduler, share the Get More Done link with your boss.)

*Write an agenda and distribute it before the get together. The agenda should list the purpose of the meeting and the items to be discussed; the list of items should be specific and focused. Include a hard stop, too. End times can bring a needed sense of urgency to all involved.

*Start meetings on the half hour.  Research indicates that meetings are more likely to start on time when they are scheduled on the half hour, rather than on the hour.

*Schedule meetings in afternoon. Time studies show that meetings are shorter later in the day. As quitting time approaches, business tends to become more efficient.