Wasting Time in Meetings? These Tips Will Help
Gretchen Rubin
6x NYT Bestselling Author | Host of the "Happier with Gretchen Rubin" Podcast | Pre-order "Secrets of Adulthood," out April 1st
Nothing can drain the happiness from you faster than a long, unproductive meeting. You’re bored; you’re not getting anything done; emails are piling up while you sit, trapped.
On the other hand, productive meetings can be exhilarating. And they can be a great way to get a lot done in a short time. So how do you keep a meeting constructive, productive, and cheerful?
What other strategies have you used, to keep your meetings productive?
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My new book about habits, Better Than Before, comes out in March. Habit is the most fascinating subject ever. And guess what? It's not hard to change your habits--if you know how. If you're inclined to buy the book, I'd really appreciate it if you pre-order it now. Pre-orders give a big boost to a book.
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. Her upcoming book, Better Than Before, reveals the secret of how to change habits--really. Read more at gretchenrubin.com. Follow her here by clicking the yellow FOLLOW button, on Twitter, @gretchenrubin, on Facebook, facebook.com/GretchenRubin.
Photo:World Bank Photo Collection, Flickr
CDC a doctor
9 年huh
Developing Leaders | Cultivating High-Performance Cultures | Inspiring Purpose-Driven Teams
10 年A simple anonymous meeting rating feedback "out of 10" & agreement on organizational best practise
Business Analyst at Phoenix
10 年I have four main techniques for dealing with meetings which are apt to be dull and mis-timed. For the over-runners, I always have "another meeting booked" (a fake one if I think anyone is likely to verify the assertion) immediately afterwards and I apologise but leave the one which should have ended. If I know a meeting is going to be long and futile I will try to be in another location at that time and attend online, meaning I can be on mute and working away until the point where it becomes pertinent to me. being online also makes it easier to use the "I'm sorry, did the start time get changed?" approach to call attention to a late start. Finally, I am a known knitter - if a meeting is primarily outward communication, I will often knit whilst listening. So if a discursive meeting doesn't start reasonably promptly, I will just get my knitting out and sit quietly working until things get moving. Sometimes that makes a point and kicks things into gear; and if it doesn't, well at least MY time isn't being wasted.
Sr Program Manager, Energy Systems at KATERRA
10 年Most of the tips I read about meetings are for the people who run them. What about some tips for those of us who attend meetings? My one and only New Years resolution for 2015 was to politely LEAVE a meeting once it was no longer relevant to me, and no one was benefiting by my presence. I simply say "I need to leave early for another commitment, I'll review the meeting notes to see if I need to follow up on anything." I also have a personal 8-minute rule; if the meeting does not start in earnest within 8 minutes of it's assigned start time, I LEAVE, and then move on to something productive. My employer pays for my productivity, and I try very hard to make sure they get what they pay for. Oh, and asking people to stay "15 minutes more" past the scheduled end time just encourages bad meetings and makes everyone late for their next meeting. If your meeting started 15 minutes late, then cut out the lower priority items and handle them in email or in another meeting. And yes, if my VP or CEO is the one who is late and asks me to stay late, I do! But 99.9% of my meeting are not with someone signing my paycheck.
very relevant