Skip to main content

Run Better Meetings

Here are five handy tips for how to run a better meeting:
  1. Limit attendance. Include only decision makers and key implementers.
  2. Use an agenda. Give each topic a time limit. Ask your staff to help set the agenda so they'll know the meeting will be relevant.
  3. Make sure attendees know at the meeting's beginning the benefit of why they are in the meeting.
  4. Create a not-on-the agenda list of topics that will be tabled for after the meeting or for another meeting.
  5. Set immediate deadlines for carrying out all decisions that are made during the meeting.
If you follow these simple five tips you can prove to your team that meetings can be used to get things done!

Learn more about how to host an effective meeting by reading the booklet, "Best Life: Tips for 2009."

Labels:

Comments

  1. davidburkusJuly 18, 2010 at 6:58 PM

    I've been fascinated with the idea of running "standing" meetings. I think making everyone stand forces them to be brief, bright and gone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Executive Coach Caroline SmithJuly 19, 2010 at 4:23 PM

    Can we add this for #6? Turn off your cell phones! (so annoying and takes away from being present at the meeting)

    I'd love to find out where to buy the "Best Life: Tips for 2009" booklet. Can't find it on Amazon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Executive Coach Caroline SmithJuly 20, 2010 at 1:42 PM

    David....there is a great "how to" for effective standing meetings in "Mastering the Rockefeller Habits" by Verne Harnish. See Chapter 8 on mastering the daily and weekly executive meeting. Harnish calls the daily 15-min meeting a "huddle" where everyone stands.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership .  In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself.  It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust.  The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes.  In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter.  In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Be a Leader – 9 Principles from Dale Carnegie

Today, I welcome thought-leader Nathan Magnuson as guest blogger... Nathan writes : This is it, your first day in a formal leadership role.   You’ve worked hard as an individual contributor at one or possibly several organizations.   Now management has finally seen fit to promote you into a position as one of their own: a supervisor.   You don’t care if your new team is only one person or ten, you’re just excited that now – finally – you will be in charge! Unfortunately the euphoria is short-lived.   Almost immediately, you are not only overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a team, but you quickly find that your team members are not as experienced or adroit as you.   Some aren’t even as committed.   You find yourself having to repeat yourself, send their work back for corrections, and staying late to fill the gap.   If something doesn’t change soon, you might just run yourself into the ground.   How did something that looked so easy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Psychology Of Leadership

I read many books about leadership and this book is one of my favorites. It’s  The Psychology of Leadership  by  Sebastien Page . It offers a fresh take on leadership through the lens of groundbreaking research in positive, sports, and personality psychology.  “Like exercise strengthens your body, practicing positive, sports, and personality psychology will make you a better leader,” says Page.  The book blends research, fascinating true stories, humor, and self-improvement advice to deliver simple yet powerful principles to master the mental game of leadership.  Page reveals timeless strategies for achieving lasting impact, fostering growth, and promoting well-being. He demonstrates how leaders and individuals can balance measurable goals with practical approaches to maximize performance and fulfillment.  “Effective leadership is not merely about achieving measurable outcomes. It requires aligning goals with intrinsic motivations and psychological ins...
Post a Comment
Read more

70 New Year's Resolutions For Leaders

  With 2026 fast approaching, it's a good time to identify your New Year's Resolutions for next year. To get you started, how about selecting one or more of the following 70 New Year's resolutions for leaders? Perhaps write down five to ten and then between now and January 1, think about which couple you want to work on during 2026. Don't micromanage Don't be a bottleneck Focus on outcomes, not minutiae Build trust with your colleagues before a crisis comes Assess your company's strengths and weaknesses at all times Conduct annual risk reviews Be courageous, quick and fair Talk more about values more than rules Reward how a performance is achieved and not only the performance Constantly challenge your team to do better Celebrate your employees' successes, not your own Err on the side of taking action Communicate clearly and often Be visible Eliminate the cause of a mistake View every problem as an opportunity to grow Summarize group consensus after each deci...
Post a Comment
Read more

Best New Leadership Book Of 2025

Each year, after reviewing dozens of books about leadership, management, business and life skills, I select my pick for the best new leadership book of the year. During 2025, I reviewed on this blog 48 books, and I choose  Radical Listening: The Art Of True Connection  as the best new leadership book of 2025. To be an excellent leader you need to be an exceptional listener. Sadly, too many business leaders don't listen well or don't listen to a broad enough range of their employees. This great book will help leaders become better listeners  –  radical listeners. “For leaders, radical listening must start at the top of an organization,” state the authors  Prof. Christian Van Nieuwerburgh (PhD)  and  Dr.   Robert Biswas-Diener .    “Unless there is a clear and sustained commitment to radical listening from leaders, others are less likely to be fully engaged with the idea. This is, of course, easier said than done.”  “Most leaders woul...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Many Times You Should Thank Customers

In your leadership role, it's vital that your team members know how to deliver excellent customer service. " Knock Your Socks Off " type service as book editor  Ann Thomas  and  Jill Applegate  would say. Part of delivering excellent customer service is saying "Thank You" to your customers and knowing when to say "Thank You". Thomas and Applegate recommend  telling your customers "Thank You" during at least these nine situations : When they do business with you...every time. When they compliment you (or your company) When they offer you comments or suggestions When they try one of your new products or services When they recommend you to a friend When they are patient...and even when they are not so patient When they help you to serve them better When they complain to you When they make you smile You and your team members can say "Thank You" : Verbally In writing  (and don't underestimate the power of  perso...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Be More Impactful Through Entrepreneurial Giving

    This Thanksgiving as you think about what you are grateful for, think, too, about how you can be more giving.   To help you discover a more giving you, read the new book, A Talent For Giving , by John Studzinski .   It introduces the meaning of entrepreneurial giving - a hands-on approach to philanthropy that harnesses skills, expertise, and resources. Through thought-provoking insights, A Talent for Giving offers a powerful new roadmap for impact as Studzinski shows how anyone, regardless of financial means, can become a force for change.   You do that by maximizing your Talent , Time , and Treasure and by embracing these values alongside others like Trust , Technology , and Trial , according to Studzinski.   “Giving is any act of kindness or generosity that recognizes and respects the dignity of another human being,” shares Studzinski. “It can be something very simple – a smile, or a hug or a few words. And on a larger scale, it’s giving your time,...
Post a Comment
Read more

How To Master The Cycles Of Leadership: The Four Seasons

Whether you’re an aspiring leader, a newly appointed CEO, or a board member wanting to better steward your company’s performance, A CEO For All Seasons: Mastering The Cycles Of Leadership is the hands-on playbook you need – packed with practical, proven tips to help you navigate the four distinct phases of leadership.  “The journey of a CEO has a beginning, middle, and end, and the challenges leaders face early on are often far different than those midway through and near retirement, explain the authors of the book – Carolyn Dewar , Scott Keller , Vikram Malhotra, and Kurt Strovink .   “For us, the most apt analogy to describe these cycles is the four seasons of the year,” they add.  Spring : Stepping up - Preparing for the role. Summer : Transitioning into the role. Starting strong. Leading with impact. Fall : Navigating the middle years. Staying ahead. Sustaining momentum. Enhancing your learning. Future-proofing the organization. Winter : Transitioning out of the rol...
Post a Comment
Read more

8 Tips For Leaders New To Blogging

Here are eight tips for leaders new to blogging or for leaders who want to ensure their company's Blog is the most effective it can be: Use keywords for your business in your Blog posting headlines. Write about the pain points of your target reader. Be sure your Blog covers topics where you or your company is truly an expert. Keep your Blog postings short.  Keep paragraphs and sentences short.  Use bullets. Include a call to action.  Perhaps you ask a question or offer a downloadable white paper.  Or, ask readers to sign up for your company's e-newsletter. Publish a list that is likely to be shared by your Blog's readers.  Include and quote industry experts in your Blog postings. Use free metrics and analytical tools to measure which of your postings are best read and shared.  Use the tool to track the sources that drive the most traffic to your Blog.
Post a Comment
Read more

Reinventing The Leader

The book,   Reinventing the Leader ,  is an inspiring account of the magic that can happen when a leader realizes they must undergo their own transformation in order to transform their organization.  This candid and practical book by  Guilherme  ( Gui) Loureiro , Regional CEO overseeing Walmex, Walmart Canada, and Walmart Chile (now Chairman of the Board for Walmex and Regional CEO for Canada, Chile, Central America, and Mexico), and his executive leadership coach  Carlos Marin  shows how even the most successful leaders must be open to personal change in order to transform their company. The book details how the pair pioneered a data-driven, customer-centric business transformation at Walmex—Walmart’s biggest division outside of the United States. “This book is a blueprint for transformational success for leaders in any business who find themselves facing the need to retool their own company’s systems and operations and energize and inspire an entire ...
Post a Comment
Read more