The New Face of Business Meetings

Meetings used to be a way of discussing important issues. Meetings took place in our personal lives, as well as during our day of work. Seminars, conventions, conferences, or simply, gatherings and discussions -- various kinds of meetings offered people a chance to have their say. In the days gone past, people would necessarily have to assemble at a specified place. But then, that was back in the days when people with similar needs and topics of discussion lived in close proximity to each other. Those who lived far away would most likely have different attitudes and varying needs to take care of. Now, jet across to the present day. Times sure have changed. We are constantly in touch with people who live not just in different towns and cities but in different time zones, and on different continents. We can no longer claim that people who live miles apart have nothing in common. The various social networking websites that dominate our lives suggest the contrary. We share many interests with people of varied backgrounds who live across the oceans. (... more)

Effective Meetings

Watch this webinar to learn the 5 Step Process for an Effective Meeting

Dealing with People who are “Off-Track”

Remember the last time you were in a meeting and someone said something that seemed completely off-track? What happened next? If your group is like most, someone probably said something like, “Dan, that’s off-track” or “Let’s get back on track.”, or simply ignored Dan’s comment. As a result, Dan may have checked out for the rest of the meeting or continued to press his “off-track” point. The meeting may have dragged on with members getting more frustrated with Dan or you may have lost Dan’s critical input and support without realizing it. There is a way to avoid these negative outcomes – I’ll get to that later. Read more...

Do your meetings measure up to your CEO's expectations?

If the CEO of your company decided to sit in on a few of your meetings, would she be impressed or distressed?We asked Nancy Knowlton, Co-CEO of SMART Technologies Inc. and Bob Hagerty, CEO of Polycom Inc., what they expect from meetings and how important effective meetings are to the success of their companies. Find out if your meetings are effective enough to measure up to the expectations of these CEO’s.

http://www.effectivemeetings.com/meetingbasics/ceo_expectations.asp

Running Effective Meetings

While meetings are wonderful tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity, this face-to-face contact with team members and colleagues can easily fail without adequate preparation and leadership. Article continues

Meeting Success Tip

Prepare a written agenda for your meeting. Make sure that everyone at the meeting is aware of it, and if necessary, have the meeting agree to it, formally. Then, if you need to, you can keep discussion focussed by referring to the agenda.
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