{"id":3372,"date":"2013-06-20T13:29:09","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T05:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/?p=3372"},"modified":"2016-12-27T12:14:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T04:14:42","slug":"holding-effective-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/holding-effective-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding Effective Meetings."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v-a3QPHN0pg?rel=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">I came across a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/qz.com\/94701\/top-business-leaders-meeting-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\">Quartz article<\/a><\/strong><\/span> about how some well-known business chiefs hold ruthlessly effective meetings. I&#8217;d encourage you to read the article, and I&#8217;d just like to highlight the main points here, and what my take on them is.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Throw out the least necessary person in the room<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Apparently, that was how Steve Jobs did it. I wonder why. Aren&#8217;t meetings supposed to involve only those involved? If you find yourself at a meeting and you have no idea what you&#8217;re supposed to do there, get out and maybe fire yourself!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Don\u2019t use chairs<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">That is one way of holding a meeting, and I have heard of hospital chiefs doing that. It&#8217;s great if the meeting is solely about decision-making, one of the two reasons why you have meetings in the first place! If the meeting involves generative discussions, then this mode might not be so good. You decide.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And if you do use chairs, keep one empty<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Apparently, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos does that to remind people of the paramount importance of the customer. Something to think about, I suppose, but it just doesn&#8217;t call my name.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Take the meeting poolside<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you&#8217;re Richard Branson, why not? Otherwise, consider holding the meeting off site once in a while. Perhaps meet at the premises of one of your business units for a change. Just make sure they don&#8217;t get unnecessary heat from you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Ban PowerPoint presentations<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">To me, a little extreme. Use if they enhance clarity for decision making or generative discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Don\u2019t set up meetings more than a day in advance<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">That is apparently what Warren Buffett does in order to keep meetings fresh and relevant. I suppose it works for him. For me, there are scheduled and unscheduled meetings, depending on what they are for.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Decisions should never wait for a meeting<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Larry Page is of the mind that &#8220;If a meeting is vital to the decision-making process, the meeting must happen immediately&#8221;. I agree. I also say that scheduled meetings are still important because decisions need to be aligned. What may appear to be a minor decision, if made in isolation, might generate serious consequences down the road.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You can get away with being late\u2026 if you\u2019re the boss<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This one surprised me. Apparently, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo does it all the time. No, you can&#8217;t. Not even if you&#8217;re the boss.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Send an advance copy<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">I&#8217;m surprised this even came up. Isn&#8217;t updating an ongoing thing?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>If you have an international meeting, don\u2019t wear your jacket on the plane<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If we understand what dressing is all about, we would pay more attention to it, and not emphasize dressing down. Not that we should be overly concerned about dressing, either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"5777\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/holding-effective-meetings\/meeting\/#main\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1125,750\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Meeting\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5777 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?resize=960%2C639&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Meeting\" width=\"960\" height=\"639\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?resize=600%2C400&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?w=1125&amp;ssl=1 1125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Whatever it is, understand the principles behind the actions, and apply judiciously in your own context.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I came across a Quartz article about how some well-known business chiefs hold ruthlessly effective meetings. I&#8217;d encourage you to read the article, and I&#8217;d just like to highlight the main points here, and what my take on them is. Throw out the least necessary person in the room Apparently, that was how Steve Jobs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5,402,361,13,15],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Meeting.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2EiEv-So","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3372"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8823,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3372\/revisions\/8823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elijahconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}