Once the attendees, dates, subject matter and objectives are defined, the practice I learned as a meeting lead (especially recurring meeting) was
1) Send out meeting agenda ahead of time.
2) Have those presenting provide as much information/data available ahead of time. (Not all would be complete)
3) Send out meeting data for review, comments and questions.
4) Provide pre-meeting comments and questions to attendees.
The pre-meeting discussions addressing comments and questions freed up the meeting from that usual "off the top of my head" comments that lead to 5-10 minutes of _____. Allowed folks to contemplate their responses, research, change their minds or fortify comprehension.
This ensured that, as a group, we came to the meeting with answers and left with more action than questions.
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James Williams P.E., M.ASCE
Principal/Owner
POA&M Structural Engineering, PLC
Yorktown, VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2023 12:27 PM
From: Mitchell Winkler
Subject: How to Avoid Meeting Madness?
Meetings can be a plague for many as they stand in the way of getting real work done, or this is a perception. For some, attending meetings becomes their work. How do you ensure that meetings are effective and efficient?
One simple policy is to ensure that every meeting has a clear agenda and clear end-in-mind. These help the meeting devolving into a talk shop and help ensure only the people that need to present are present. What have others found effective for mitigating meeting madness?
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Mitch Winkler P.E., M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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