Leading Effective Meetings: 72 Tips to Save Time, Improve Teamwork, and Make Better Decisions

Why suffer though another monotonous meeting? Conduct successful meetings where business is accomplished instead of time wasted.

You have attended scores of them. Probably even a few this week. And for some reason, the thought of sitting in on another one leaves you nauseated. They’re called meetings and they’re an integral part of business life.

Actually, they are a pretty good idea. Gather a group of talented people, pool their resources and expertise, hash out some issues, devise a game plan, and everyone is the better for it.

Unfortunately, not all meetings follow that agenda. Instead, busy people with complicated schedules reluctantly congregate to vent their frustrations, complicate matters, and pontificate pet peeves. And everyone ends up with more work.

Meetings are here to stay, and sooner or later, you’ll likely be asked to lead one. Understand the basics of how to conduct a meeting and you’ll be known as one who gets things done; neglect these basics and you’ll only waste everyone’s time.

Meetings can bring the world to peace— or kill fifteen hours a week for even the best time manager. Communicating ideas and creating solutions as a team take the best of attention and skill. These guidelines will help you lead and participate in team discussions both to contribute and evaluate ideas.

About the Author

Dianna Booher, MA, CSP, CPAE, works with organizations to increase their productivity and effectiveness through better oral, written, interpersonal, and organizational communication.

Founder and CEO of Booher Consultants, Inc., she is also a prolific author of 46 books, published in 23 languages. She has published with Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, Warner, Random House, McGraw-Hill, Thomas Nelson, and Berrett-Koehler. Her most popular titles include: Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader, Communicate with Confidence: How to Say it Right the First Time and Every Time (Revised and Expanded Edition 2011), The Voice of Authority: 10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know, Booher’s Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors, Speak with Confidence: Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade, E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication, From Contact to Contract: 496 Proven Sales Tips to Generate More Leads, Close More Deals, Exceed Your Goals, and Make More Money, and Your Signature Work: Creating Excellence and Influencing Others at Work.

Good Morning America, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Forbes.com, CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, Success, Entrepreneur, NPR, CNBC, Fox Family Network, and Bloomberg have interviewed Dianna for her opinions on critical workplace communication. Successful Meetings magazine has named her to its list of “21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century,” and she has been inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame®. Executive Excellence has named her to its list of “100 Top Thought Leaders in America.”