So, How Was Your Meeting?

Far too many meetings are dreadful, mind-numbing, energy-draining, productivity-sapping, colossal wastes of time. As someone once said, "To kill time, a meeting is the perfect weapon."Meetings are events we've long loved to hate, and that may not change anytime soon. Captain James T. Kirk is still complaining about meetings in the 23rd century when he says, "Meetings are where minutes are taken and hours are wasted." Ouch! What would you suppose is the #1 complaint about meetings?There's no agenda? They don't start on time? They wander off track? Nope, nope, and nope. The biggest complaint, by far, is having to attend them!Given how many meetings most of us attend, that's alarming news. Meetings are an organizational fact of life, but most of us would rather attend far fewer of them, because we don't see their value-we don't see meetings as an effective use of our time. We attend meetings because we have to be there, not because we want to. Is it any wonder people show up late? The Just In Time Leadership Series is an ever-expanding catalogue of books that cover topics of interest to managers, supervisors, team leaders-just about anyone who coordinates and directs a group of people. These books are meant to be read "just in time"-that is, just before you are about to do something that leaders do: conduct an interview, facilitate a cross-sectional team meeting, create annual team and individual goals, reward and recognize a high performer, or whatever it might be. Just In Time books close the gap between the workshop and the application. They are not intended to replace formal learning events (or mentoring, for that matter)-they are designed to assist you before or after those events. They will bring you up to speed on the techniques and insights associated with leadership competencies. They are stuffed with proven TIPS (Techniques, Insight, and Practical Solutions) associated with skills that leaders need to be effective. Here's the deal: if you're willing to learn and apply the techniques in "So, How Was Your Meeting?," you'll call fewer meetings, while vastly improving the ones you do lead. They'll take less time, have more balanced participation, produce better decisions, and result in concrete action items for follow-up afterwards. If that's not your experience, contact the author and he'll refund the purchase price of this book, no questions asked.