Hey, Not All Meetings Suck

Please don't get the idea that, in this book, I'm only ranting about poorly run meetings. If I did that, I'd just be another victim blaming everyone and their mother for all the time wasted in meetings.

Let me set something straight right now.

I'm officially and boldly stating this: Meetings can be awesome. After all, face-to-face meetings are the lifeblood of thriving organizations. By definition, meetings are the act of people coming together to achieve a common goal through communication and interaction. That “achieving a common goal” is the key to this whole thing. And when meetings are engaging, they accomplish amazing things. They:

• Deliver information that allows team members to excel.
• Foster a spirit of creativity.
• Supply much-needed motivation and incentive.
• Build unity, cohesion, and commitment to a mission.

In contrast, it's those poorly planned, poorly facilitated meetings with poor participation that suck the life out of business, government, and non-profit organizations.

A great meeting can provide great value, especially when great value has been designed into it. Many professional meeting and event planners, executives, cubicle workers, and others have skillful ideas of what to do: They prepare well, engage others, get issues finalized, and end a meeting when it's time for it to end. Their well-run meetings add value to everyone's professional and personal growth as well as to the organization's bottom line.

If you're one of these accomplished meeting planners or facilitators, I commend you and offer you even more amazing advice. I promise you'll find this book indispensable in achieving your desired outcomes.