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Digressions happen easily, particularly so in a meeting which is going well, because that’s when people are participating actively and contributing…The trick is how to handle the digression in a way that brings the group back to the agenda.

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Brainstorming is improvisational, unplanned, and unstructured, and is designed to maximize the creativity…But if one doesn’t realize that brainstorming is happening, or doesn’t know the unwritten rules, it can be confusing.

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Not everyone feels comfortable speaking up in a meeting…And when cultural and language differences are added in, the situation becomes even more complicated.

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Meetings can be the site for a variety of nonproductive, dysfunctional behaviors, such as cutting someone off, being argumentative, or making negative comments. If positive action is not taken in such cases, the meeting can quickly go downhill. Read More

When people are involved in a conversation, they can lose track of how much time is passing. Inevitably, meetings tend to take longer than anticipated, and the result can be meetings that seem to drag on forever… Read More

A meeting leader’s role is to ensure that the discussion stays on track, that everyone participates, and that the outcome of the meeting is clarified...also that the meeting process itself is a positive one. Read More

Ground rules are especially important when people of different cultural backgrounds are meeting together…ground rules ensure that all the participants are on the same wavelength in terms of the way to proceed. Read More

An agenda clarifies the topic of the meeting, both broadly and specific points…Once an agenda has been created, the key thing is to actually use it during the meeting. If the agenda is not followed, it is virtually meaningless… Read More

Businesspeople today are typically busy and the time that is taken up by attending a meeting could be used for other activities…it’s important to invite people based on their ability to contribute to the discussion, rather than based on their title or office politics.

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A meeting is called, but the objective of the meeting is not specified. This leads to wasted time and frustration…think about whether a meeting is the best way to achieve that purpose. Read More