Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings by Eric Matson
Sin #1: People don't take meetings seriously. They arrive late, leave early, and spend most of their time doodling.
Salvation: Adopt the mind-set that meetings are real work.
There are as many techniques to improve the "crispness" of meetings as there are items on the typical meeting agenda. Some companies punish latecomers with a penalty fee or reprimand them in the minutes of the meeting. But these techniques address symptoms, not the disease. Disciplined meetings are about mind-set -- a shared conviction among all the participants that meetings are real work. That all-too-frequent expression of relief -- "Meeting's over, let's get back to work" -- is the mortal enemy of good meetings.
"Most people simply don't view going to meetings as doing work," says William Daniels. "You have to make your meetings uptime rather than downtime."
On the wall you can have a poster with a series of simple questions about the meetings that take place there. Do you know the purpose of this meeting? Do you have an agenda? Do you know your role? Do you follow the rules for good minutes?
These posters are a visual reminder of just how serious the company is about productive meetings.
Sin #2: Meetings are too long. They should accomplish twice as much in half the time.
Salvation: Time is money. Track the cost of your meetings and use computer- enabled simultaneity to make them more productive.
Almost every guru invokes the same rule: meetings should last no longer than 90 minutes. When's the last time your company held to that rule?
One reason meetings drag on is that people don't appreciate how expensive they are.
Therefore talk about the cost of bad meetings. Because bad meetings lead to even more meetings, and over time the costs become awe-inspiring.
Sin #3: People wander off the topic. Participants spend more time digressing than discussing.
Salvation: Get serious about agendas and store distractions in a "parking lot." It's the starting point for all advice on productive meetings: stick to the agenda.
...evision. I feel there are several simple things could be done that would make the meeting more accessible to not only first time attendees but also citizens in general. First of all by giving a very brief introduction to who the Council members are and why they are on the Council, as well as the who the people on the side bars are and what their purpose for being there. Just a brief background, five minutes at the tops, would give a background enough for newcomers to have a basic understanding of what is going on. Another thing that could be done to make it more accessible would be to explain the purpose of the meeting or to give out an agenda at the beginning. By attending this public meeting, I was able to see that the grandeur that is portrayed on television is very fake, but the importance is vastly downplayed.
For better negotiation and communication, Meetings were held between the team members and the managers so that every employee can give their views and opinions.
Over and over I heard people say, “If you’re not meeting in a church you’re ‘forsaking the assembling of yourselves together’ (Hebrews 10:25), and therefore are living in sin.” It killed me (even while I was in my church) when a person became angry at someone for not attending an established church building but a home church or a Bible study. I never understood why they did that. But since I was on the outside looking into the situation, I could see the attitudes of both people during those conversations and tried to determine their heart condi...
...face meetings, the goals of having an increase in positive work culture, employee morale and overall productivity will ensure stability in the ever-changing environment.
Communication is a very effective way of get things resolved. What we do at my work place, all staff have weekly meetings about positive and negative situations that have been encountered during the week. I find this very helpful because concerns or new ideas are brought. And we move al move along in the same page.
Actions that should be taken, but are not, are considered sins of omission and can range from not defending what is right to not praying. There are many instructions throughout the Old and New Testament from God, yet, the Bible clearly demonstrates how many habitually ignored these requests, often without a second thought. Unfortunately, this still holds true today. Therefore, it is imperative that we are not only aware, but that we make others aware of these types’ sins and their significance.
Fast Company published the “Seven Deadly Sins of Meetings” in 1996, in an attempt to steer those in leadership positions into the right direction (Murphy, 2013). Of the seven deadly sins of meetings, referral to meetings being too long, and presenters going off topic are not uncommon. Employees who are bored will often times become uninterested in the topic as a whole, and lose. Since this book was written nearly two decades ago, these sins continue to plaque meetings across the globe according to Murphy (2013).
As the old saying goes, "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." The dynamics of a team can be very diverse. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's bad. It is so important to extinguish all issues from the very beginning because otherwise they lie buried and slowly build into something that is blown out of proportion. It is important to safeguard the team from this by setting up a system of routine meetings, and team rules to where people have a chance to discuss and solve potential problems in an open unbiased forum.
McLean, S (2010). Developing business presentations. In Business Communication for Success (pp. 371-414). Retrieved from
“4. RESOLUTION Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fall what you resolve.”(132) The first four of these virtues seem hard enough that it would take most of a person’s strength just to follow them. Yet these four not only show the need for discipline but the importance of restraint.
Messmer, M. (2002). Conducting effective meetings. The National Public Accountant, , 15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/232339370?accountid=14543
When I’m in meetings at work, I like to think outside of the box and come up with new ideas that can help the company and the employees. “Innovative work behavior is generating and application of new ideas, processes and methods at workplace” (West and Farr 1990). Creating new ideas and making sure they are applied are beneficial to any company. "Quite good and complete
departments are out to lunch or when only department heads are in a meeting. If I did that I
...amine the promise Christ once made. “ I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
Punctuality is important in business situation. In most cases, the people having a meeting arrive on time. Make a call if you arrive just five minutes later than agreed.