How to Hold an Ineffective Meeting

Whether you work for pay, do volunteer work, or manage a household, meetings are a fact of life; unfortunately, they are often an extremely ineffective fact of life. There are meetings for the business, social and volunteer organizations to which you belong; meetings at work; meetings with household service providers such as architects, lawyers or accountants; civic meetings; and meetings at your child’s school. This month I have noted some ways to make sure that the meetings you attend continue to be ineffective, with the intention that you will be inspired to take charge and do something to make sure your time and that of all the other attendees is more highly regarded at future gatherings.

Call a meeting when one isn’t necessary. Rather than have a telephone conference call or use web-based technology, make sure everyone has to spend time and money getting to the meeting. This works especially well when the cost to hold the meeting is greater than the actual benefits of the meeting.

Call a meeting when the timing isn’t right. Make sure invitees do not have time to adequately prepare for the meeting. If you can schedule it when critical deadlines or projects are looming, when key people are not available, or when there are conflicting obligations, so much the better.

Let’s go forward with this short article. Do not have a written agenda. Meetings with no expressed purpose are especially ineffective. Attendees will not know the’ssues to be addressed and will be unable to prepare for the meeting (see above item). Discussion can ramble on indefinitely without ever knowing if the meeting’s objectives have been achieved.

Invite the wrong people. Be sure to invite people who are either unaffected by the meeting’s outcome or aren’t in a position to decide on the’ssue at hand. That being said, invite people at the highest pay level when people on their staff are fully capable of being effective contributors.

Do not set a time limit. With no limit on how long each topic will be discussed, you can be sure your meeting will drag on interminably. This is ideal for people who love the sound of their own voice.

Do not limit discussion to the topic at hand. You can find out amazing things about people when you let them ramble on about whatever subject they choose.

Do not clearly identify outcomes and takeaways. With no written record of the resolution of the’ssues discussed at the meeting, you can enjoy the fun of misunderstandings, as well as missed deadlines and opportunities. And better yet, you will enjoy the chance to have another meeting since no one can remember what got accomplished at the first one.

Internationally known professional organizer, author, and speaker Sue Becker is the founder and owner of From Piles to Smiles. She enjoys helping people live better lives by creating customized systems to overcome their overwhelming paperwork, clutter, and schedules. She specializes in helping people who are chronically disorganized, especially people with AD/HD. Sue is Illinois’ first Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization.

Sue invites you to sign up for her FREE Starter Kit: five Proven Ways to Organize and Simplify Your Life at http://www.pilestosmiles.com you will learn simple ways to discover the freedom of an organized home, office and life. Check out the additional products available to help you put ideas into action at http://www.pilestosmiles.com/products.htm

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