http://www.flickr.com/photos/nifmus/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Ever been to a meeting that was like watching the grass grow? Meetings for the sake of meeting is pointless. It wastes times, drives costs, and destroys morale. If I write any more of an intro, I'm not practicing what I'm preaching. So here goes:
Begin with the end in mind. Thank you Steve Covey for this classic. What do you want to accomplish by meeting? Can it be accomplished without meeting? If you need to meet because you haven't met in awhile, then take your team to lunch. Don't put together a bogus agenda just to meet.
Start on time. End on time. End a little early, but never late.
Send a written agenda no less than one week before the meeting. If you want valuable input, then you need preparation. If you don't prepare and bring something valuable, you won't get invited back. Speculation and off-the-cuff is not going to cut it.
Meet to decide, not discuss. Bring the issues to the table. Have a healthy debate (with well-prepared data and analysis). And make a decision. Minutes should only include decisions and actions.
That's it. If I'm missing anything, then Google it. There is tons written about this. But reading a thousand word essay on how to run a meeting is like sitting through a really bad meeting.
