How to conduct a successful meeting

1. Quotable quote

"Basically, there are three types of Chair: (1) the authoritarian, who conducts meetings like military drills and wonders why nothing very original is ever said or achieved in them; (2) the permissive, who lets the members run the meetings, and wonders why so many of them end in chaos; and (3) the majority, who are a little of both and who wonder why other people's meetings seem more effective than their own. This is because being an effective Chair does not come naturally. It requires certain skills, but the good news is that these skills can be learnt and they can be improved with practice."

2. Don't forget

Those first fifteen minutes are important. Studies have shown that meeting participants are more alert and creative during the first part of a meeting. As the meeting goes on, they become less and less attentive. So any problem that needs a creative solution, any information you really want employees to remember, and any important points that you want to drive home should be covered within the first fifteen minutes.

3. Here's an idea

Do your meetings, which you call for, say, 2.00, usually start at ‘2.00-ish’ - somewhere around 5 to 15 minutes late? And do they start later and later each time because everyone knows that everyone else is going to be late? You can attempt to solve this annoying problem by using the ‘odd starting time’ strategy.

For example, instead of scheduling a 2.00 start, specify 1.57 or 2.04. …