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Effective Meetings in 7 simple steps
7 simple steps to effective meetings that will change the way you work
People spend up to 60 percent of their working day in meetings, but all too often they leave feeling overwhelmed and confused. Sound familiar? Meetings that involve the wrong people or are badly organised are a waste of everyone’s time, so whether you need to learn from scratch or re-evaluate your techniques, this is the book for you.
Follow our 7 simple steps to more productive, efficient and successful meetings. With expert advice on everything from using informal meetings to your advantage to dealing with technical hitches during conference calls, this book contains everything you need to transform the way you spend your working day.
People spend up to 60 percent of their working day in meetings, but all too often they leave feeling overwhelmed and confused. Sound familiar? Meetings that involve the wrong people or are badly organised are a waste of everyone’s time, so whether you need to learn from scratch or re-evaluate your techniques, this is the book for you.
Follow our 7 simple steps to more productive, efficient and successful meetings. With expert advice on everything from using informal meetings to your advantage to dealing with technical hitches during conference calls, this book contains everything you need to transform the way you spend your working day.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2014
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September 6, 2018
Meetings are an integral and unavoidable part of the corporate world. However, these meetings may or may not be effective. Barry Tomalin, the author, hereby tries to provide a seven step concise method to help corporate people to get more effective and efficient with their meetings. According to the author, there are seven steps to be followed in order to achieve optimum efficiency and effectiveness in professional meetings.
Briefly the seven steps are: 1. To organise people, places and times: The author has suggested that it is worth limiting the number of meetings conducted, having more focused meetings and having shorter meetings. He also suggests prioritizing meetings which are of direct concern, have the correct information, cover responsibilities that are to be reported, include people who are to be met and deal with things that interest you.
2. To prepare useful documents: The author has recommended preparing relevant documents such as key documents like invitation, agenda, supporting papers and discussion documents and minutes. These key documents contribute the most to the success of the meeting according to the author.
3. To participate with impact: The author has stated that active participation, active listening, body language and voice modulation are necessary ingredients for the success of a meeting. The author has given recommendations regarding how to introduce oneself, how to intervene and how to make sure your point comes across.
4. To host virtual meetings: In this segment, the author has explained what type of virtual meetings can be conducted and what the drawbacks of the same are.
5. To use informal meetings wisely: The author has explained the difference between formal and informal meetings and the different types of informal meetings. He has given different strategies for responding to informal feedback in a meeting. He has also provided tips on how to follow up on an informal meeting in the format of an audit.
6. To adapt to meeting dynamics: The author has briefly discussed different leadership styles and the advantages and disadvantages of the same. The author has given the reader the three T’s-time, topic and temperament. He has also provided guidance regarding how to control a meeting and dealing with difficult situations.
7. To run efficient and effective meetings: The author has summarised the protocol of meetings and has provided a follow-up procedure for after the meeting.
The narrative is well structured and flows smoothly. The author has used simple and lucid language, hence the content is easily comprehended. The tips given by the author would certainly help those in the corporate world who have to attend meetings on a regular basis.
The author wants to establish that a lot can be achieved with a proper strategy and methodical time management. It is the intention of the author that the reader can make the most optimum use of corporate meetings.
The major drawback of the book is that it tends to drag in certain places. The author perhaps could have inserted a few more anecdotes in the book to hold on to the reader's attention. At the beginning of every chapter, the author has given 5 ways to succeed and 5 ways to fail. However, he has not taken into account that there might be more than 5 ways to succeed and to fail, as people have their own way of dealing with situations.
CONCLUSION: I found the book to be useful in many ways. I certainly thought that many of the strategies and techniques suggested by the author made sound practical sense and could be incorporated in our daily lives. This book is certainly relevant to people working in corporates who find that a large chunk of their work day is taken up by attending meetings. However, my attention did tend to wander from the book at times. So I feel that the book could have been made slightly more interesting by making use of humour, illustrations and the use of real-life incidents and examples. All in all, it is worth reading.
Briefly the seven steps are: 1. To organise people, places and times: The author has suggested that it is worth limiting the number of meetings conducted, having more focused meetings and having shorter meetings. He also suggests prioritizing meetings which are of direct concern, have the correct information, cover responsibilities that are to be reported, include people who are to be met and deal with things that interest you.
2. To prepare useful documents: The author has recommended preparing relevant documents such as key documents like invitation, agenda, supporting papers and discussion documents and minutes. These key documents contribute the most to the success of the meeting according to the author.
3. To participate with impact: The author has stated that active participation, active listening, body language and voice modulation are necessary ingredients for the success of a meeting. The author has given recommendations regarding how to introduce oneself, how to intervene and how to make sure your point comes across.
4. To host virtual meetings: In this segment, the author has explained what type of virtual meetings can be conducted and what the drawbacks of the same are.
5. To use informal meetings wisely: The author has explained the difference between formal and informal meetings and the different types of informal meetings. He has given different strategies for responding to informal feedback in a meeting. He has also provided tips on how to follow up on an informal meeting in the format of an audit.
6. To adapt to meeting dynamics: The author has briefly discussed different leadership styles and the advantages and disadvantages of the same. The author has given the reader the three T’s-time, topic and temperament. He has also provided guidance regarding how to control a meeting and dealing with difficult situations.
7. To run efficient and effective meetings: The author has summarised the protocol of meetings and has provided a follow-up procedure for after the meeting.
The narrative is well structured and flows smoothly. The author has used simple and lucid language, hence the content is easily comprehended. The tips given by the author would certainly help those in the corporate world who have to attend meetings on a regular basis.
The author wants to establish that a lot can be achieved with a proper strategy and methodical time management. It is the intention of the author that the reader can make the most optimum use of corporate meetings.
The major drawback of the book is that it tends to drag in certain places. The author perhaps could have inserted a few more anecdotes in the book to hold on to the reader's attention. At the beginning of every chapter, the author has given 5 ways to succeed and 5 ways to fail. However, he has not taken into account that there might be more than 5 ways to succeed and to fail, as people have their own way of dealing with situations.
CONCLUSION: I found the book to be useful in many ways. I certainly thought that many of the strategies and techniques suggested by the author made sound practical sense and could be incorporated in our daily lives. This book is certainly relevant to people working in corporates who find that a large chunk of their work day is taken up by attending meetings. However, my attention did tend to wander from the book at times. So I feel that the book could have been made slightly more interesting by making use of humour, illustrations and the use of real-life incidents and examples. All in all, it is worth reading.
Displaying 1 of 1 review