Meetings: Best Practice

Meetings have a bad reputation and there is a lot of controversy around them. Do we need them or are they a waste of time. Some people hate them while others can't live without. Independent studies keep showing that 25 to 50 percent of meeting time is unproductive.

A meeting is a way of communicating and a phone call, email or even the Internet with many new and fancy communication tools cannot replace the benefits of direct personal contact in a face-to-face discussion between two or more people. But on the other hand, when meetings are not properly prepared and executed they can be a complete waste of time.

In the sections below you will find a lot of advice, tips and tricks on many aspects of the meeting process. We can't emphasize enough that preparation and training are key components. Be as prepared as possible and don't be discouraged when you have a bad meeting. It takes time and experience to lead good meetings. Try to get familiar and implement as many best practice techniques as possible. After each meeting (or even during the meeting), evaluate to see if and what went wrong and how to do it better next time.

If you organize a meeting, it's your responsibility to use your time, and everyone else's as effective as possible.
Meetings still have a bad reputation but with a little effort this can be changed !

About meetings

In this introduction you will find articles about different types of meetings, how to choose what meeting you need, etc.

Before the meeting

In most cases, if you want your meeting to be productive, there is some work to be done to plan end prepare the meeting. How to get started and what needs to be done?

At the meeting

Chairing a meeting is not always easy. There are many things you should and you can never be prepared enough...

After the meeting

When the meeting is over there is still work to be done. Without proper documentation it's like the meeting never happened!

Tools & Templates

In addition to preparation and experience, meeting tools are (or can be) a 3rd key component of successful meetings. There are many tools and templates available to help you plan, organize and manage your meetings.

Miscellaneous

Here you can find information that doesn't really fit in any other category like publications, links to other important resources, etc.

Did you know...

that the best meeting times are 9:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m. before people are immersed in work or after they’ve shaken off the grogginess from lunch?

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