Comments on: How to Run Wildly Unproductive Meetings and Waste Everyone’s Time

By: Make Your Meetings More Successful (And Shorter!) - TalentCulture

Make Your Meetings More Successful (And Shorter!) - TalentCulture — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:18:57 +0000

[…] be feasible alone. The restraint of choosing high-potential collaboration allows you to avoid wasting time when collaboration itself is a substitute for lack of creativity, vision or […]

By: 10 Tips for Better Meetings | TDS Business

10 Tips for Better Meetings | TDS Business — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:08:19 +0000

[...] Now there are tons of articles about how to hold meetings that people don’t hate and tips for holding productive meetings. That’s great, and I’m sure they’re a big help. But let’s get down to the nitty gritty and talk about 10 real tips for good meetings. [...]

By: Why Paying Attention to Introverts Matters | daremytruth.com

Why Paying Attention to Introverts Matters | daremytruth.com — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:03:44 +0000

[...] the workplace was geared towards solitary work. Since then, cubicle square footage has shrunk and poorly run meeting invites have multiplied, leading to a decline in productivity and a rise in personal [...]

By: Andrew Tarvin

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:05:00 +0000

Don’t forget that all presenters should read all of their slides and you should schedule a fire drill in the middle of your meeting if possible.

By: Rhys

Rhys — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:39:00 +0000

So true. Here are a couple I have learned from present and past colleagues;

1. Schedule a meeting with lots of invitees, then don’t turn up to it. Instead, 5 minutes after the meeting should have started, and the attendees are wondering whether they are in the right room, send a reschedule for another day. Then go out to lunch. When the rescheduled meeting day rolls around, rinse and repeat.

2. If anyone in your organization is actually managing to accomplish anything, especially if they are on the critical path of some major project, invite them as required attendees to meetings that appear to be related to what they are doing but are actually completely irrelevant. With luck, and hints during the meeting that you are “just about” to discuss the issues of relevance to them, you can waste at least a half hour of their time during which they might otherwise have achieved something, before they realize and leave.

By: Gloria Ramsbottom

Gloria Ramsbottom — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:23:00 +0000

This is the way we run our roundtables!!
http://ramsbottom-lemieux.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/a-round-table-well-managed.html

By: How to Run Wildly Unproductive Meetings and Was...

How to Run Wildly Unproductive Meetings and Was... — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 05:43:17 +0000

[...] Follow this guide, and your meetings are guaranteed to be as dull, mismanaged and ultimately pointless as everyone expects. [...]

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:51:00 +0000

(& @Guest) ActionPlanr looks interesting, I will have a look at that.

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:47:00 +0000

And of course if you listen carefully, but never actually write anything down everyone will have a slightly different memory of what was actually decided (if they remember it at all).

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:45:00 +0000

Yeah – sometimes I’ve seen things where you use a different system to book the meeting rooms and that always catches people out and the room itself gets double-booked.

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:43:00 +0000

I like it. Or even just 30mins before a meeting reschedule to another time, that way at least half of the people will show up anyway because they won’t have gotten the update yet.

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Heh, that’s a good one. Bring an iPad to a meeting also seems to be popular these days.

By: RedStapler

RedStapler — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:34:00 +0000

How about “don’t learn how to schedule a meeting” in the first place? How many times have people scheduled meetings with you using Outlook where even the room itself is already booked? When the invariable knot of people are found standing outside the occupied room the organizer gets immediately defensive or looks aghast: “you’re supposed to do…WHAT?”

By: Rovanda

Rovanda — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:06:00 +0000

I think “Refuse to provide an agenda, even when asked.” should have a number all to itself. And then there’s the ever-popular “don’t check the attendees’ calendars even if you can,” “Don’t schedule a room in advance so your group has to wander around looking for someplace open,” and “Listen attentively but never, ever retain what you’ve been told.”

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:16:00 +0000

You forgot two: 1. Make sure to add critical attendees 30 minutes before the meeting is due to start and move forward with the meeting when they are no shows. This will guarantee another meeting needs to be scheduled on the same topic. Do this consistently to maximize the number of times you need to meet. 2. Accept meetings even when you have a conflict and decide on the fly which meeting to attend.

By: Guy Greenbaum

Guy Greenbaum — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:48:00 +0000

It’s cathartic to see someone lay this out loud. Seriously people, get it together.

By: Brenda Horton

Brenda Horton — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:21:00 +0000

Awesome post! Love # 16. I use Actionplanr http://actionplanr.com/ to create action steps for each person and then email it to them.

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:19:00 +0000

I am always amazed at how unproductive meetings are. I especially like #16 Action Steps. I use Actionplanr http://actionplanr.com/to build in the action steps for each person and then email it to them.

By: Richard Perfect

Richard Perfect — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:49:00 +0000

Thanks Heather, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully the next time you get stuck with a dried-up whiteboard marker at least you’ll be able to smile

By: Heather Stone

Heather Stone — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:43:00 +0000

Hi Richard,
Wow, this makes me laugh. Unfortunately, that’s because it’s only too true. I’m sure all of us have attended meetings that follow the above tongue-in-cheek advice. Thanks so much for sharing this post with the BizSugar commuity.

By: How not to run a meeting | Meeting Management INDPA | Scoop.it

How not to run a meeting | Meeting Management INDPA | Scoop.it — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 21:04:24 +0000

[...] Follow this guide, and your meetings are guaranteed to be as dull, mismanaged and ultimately pointless as everyone expects. (#7 makes me laugh. [...]