Effective Meetings

Again, inspired by my friend and colleague Lorie, I'm posting a link she passed on to me this afternoon.  It's got some great tips about running effective meetings.  I believe I've also previously referenced the term "effective humans", coined by my friend and colleague Laura.  Looks like we need some effective humans to run effective meetings.

http://www.sideroad.com/Meetings/how-to-conduct-staff-meeting.html

Updates

My friend and colleague Lorie recently posed a question about the best way to provide updates in staff meetings.  She wanted to know how best to do a program update without boring everyone else to tears.  While most of us could never imagine Lorie being boring, it was still a good question.  Another friend and colleague Katherine suggested presenting your program updates in a game format, such as Jeopardy, and reported that her co-workers loved it.  It could take a little more preparation for the meeting, but I'll bet those co-workers remembered what she wanted them to remember.

Nail Biting

Biting your fingernails in a meeting.  Really?  I believe that posture, gestures and expressions say as much about your participation in a meeting as your words.  And nail biting in a meeting is one of those things that suggests a lack of interest and respect.  So save that nail biting for later.  Geeezzzz.

Doodling

How do you perceive doodling in meetings?  I respect the need for doodling as a way to help people maintain their attention and focus.  I have a colleague who brings her colored pencils and sketchbook to longer meetings, just for this purpose.  But for me, I know when I start doodling that it either means that the meeting has become boring, or an extremely uncomfortable conversation is taking place and is not being handled well.  That's when I put my head down and start doodling.