I’ve reported before on the policy of leaving Blackberries outside meeting rooms… and now I’ve heard of a policy that tops that. An attendee approached me after my lecture on Email Overload solutions today and told me that in the advertising agency where she works it is forbidden to bring notebook computers into meetings. She used to find this objectionable, but having heard me explain the damage of checking email to the effectiveness of meetings, she could now understand why it was a good idea after all. Being in advertising, where their meetings were about hammering out creative ideas, they.. Read more

Meetings consume precious time like a SUV guzzles gas. I remember that Andy Grove, Intel’s legendary co-founder, once wrote that you need half a dozen approvals to buy a $5000 copier but can call a meeting of 20 managers – whose time costs far more – without anyone raising an eyebrow. The fact is, the time cost of meetings is enormous and usually overlooked. Now, time spent on a well led, interactive, lively meeting is very well spent; but all too often meetings are long, boring and useless, especially when everyone is doing email… and when they drag on, or.. Read more

Meetings consume a big portion of the knowledge worker’s week, and are notoriously unproductive (small wonder, what with everybody doing email). Improving meeting effectiveness is therefore a big deal; I’ve seen it done right with great positive impact, and the converse too. It takes some doing… but there is one way meetings can be improved immediately: by abandoning the tyranny of the one-hour slot. Most meetings in the world are set for an hour or two, simply because we all live by the clock, and it is calibrated in hours. This is also reflected in most calendars, whether paper or.. Read more