At times, getting a root canal seems a better way to spend your precious time than to sit through another dull, boring, and worse, unproductive meeting. Think:

1 Meeting = 1 Hour
People in Meeting = 6
Total Time: 1 Hour   WRONG!!
1 Hour Meeting + 6 people = 6 hours!

Can any of us afford such waste? The answer is, of course, no. The bigger questions is why are meetings such a waste of time? Some complaints clients express are:

• Some people talk too much
• Some people don’t talk at all
• Lack of structure
• Poor assignment of action steps or no action steps
• No follow-up or follow-through
• Meetings lack leadership
• Behaviors such as bullying, know-it-alls, side-conversations, getting off topic/rambling; negativity, griping, and ego battles run amok

It doesn’t have to be like this. While I am not of the mindset that there should be no meetings, in order to have effective meetings, you need to know the following five important steps to help prevent meeting mayhem: