Recently I spent a few minutes with Anita Bruzzese, talking about how to make meetings better. I’d encourage you to check out Anita’s article as I’m not the only one who offered insights into how to make meetings better.
Of course, Anita didn’t use all of my suggestions (and I didn’t expect her to) so her editing is your gain :)
I spend over 25% of my work life in my meetings, and I’ve been to more than my share of good (and bad) meetings. There are some key things you can do and make YOUR meetings more meaningful.

Always have a written …read more

Reader Melissa shared a very insightful comment to my suggestions on how to run an effective annual board meeting, and I felt it was worth pulling out for you to learn from here (in case you don’t click in for the comments on articles):

 
3 More Tips on Planning Meetings and Organizational Management
1) Make sure that the expectations are as clear as possible. You want everyone’s definition of success to look the same.
2) When looking back and looking ahead, keep in mind the mission, vision, and core values of the organization. Use those as your guiding force for determining everything …read more

I was recently sitting in a meeting and I looked around the room while we were going through the meeting agenda and giving status updates. I was shocked by what I saw!
One person was checking their iPhone for stock quotes
Two people were having a sidebar conversation
Three people were looking out the door of the conference room, hoping the meeting would be over soon (we had just started).

When you’re in a meeting, be there! Find out how you can engage in the conversation and what’s going on.
Unless you’re expecting an urgent e-mail, put your iPhone and Blackberry away, and look at …read more