Death by Meeting

Everytime I try and reach you on the phone you are in a meeting?   One day I tried to call you all day and the answer was – she wants to talk with you but is still in the meeting.  This was hours later.  Same meeting.   Meeting – an assembly of people especially members of a society or committee for discussion or entertainment.   When was the last time you were in an entertaining meeting?  Really?   According to Wikipedia: A meeting is a gathering of 2 or more people that has been convened for the purpose of achieving a common good through verbal interaction such as sharing information or reach agreement.   I spoke to a couple of friends the other day – just left a grilling 5 hour meeting and they tabled most of the stuff.  5 hours – how can it be?  Are you kidding me?   We have taken the “reach agreement” out of the meetings it seems and made them “information sharing sessions” or worse.   Are you busy? Do you need to sit in a room and share stuff you can read or listen to on your own? Listening to stuff that really has no effect on you. Most meeting of 5 plus people are dominated by 2 people who could have the conversation with out an audience.   So – how can you have an effective meeting?  Let me share with you today.