Streamlining Meetings

From consultants at Cisco Systems to senior managers at Federal Express, employees are frustrated with meetings. First comes the big meeting, followed by meetings to figure out what that big meeting was about and to determine who is going to do what. It seems that employees are tired of wasting time in meetings and accomplishing nothing.

Meetings are supposed to be productive—a place where people can share ideas and resolve problems. Instead, people come to meetings unprepared, wander off the main topic, and end the meeting without a plan of action.

1		What can you do as a facilitator of a meeting to make the meeting time-efficient and productive?
			A)	Set ample time for a meeting to make sure all matters are addressed and offer several breaks to the attendees in the duration to prevent them from becoming bored.
			B)	Make it clear to the attendees that all questions and suggestions will only be attended to during the last 15 minutes of the meeting.
			C)	Prepare a written agenda for the meeting for all the attendees and ask them to come prepared to discuss the specific issue that you’ve outlined.
			D)	Ask all attendees to think about an issue they feel needs to be addressed.