Diana Gabriel

Certified Professional Coach

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COACHING
  • WORKSHOPS
  • BOOKS
  • TOOLS
  • BLOG
  • ARTICLES
  • FAQ
  • CONTACT

Meetings: Are Yours Productive?

October 15, 2012 by Diana Leave a Comment

Meetings, like death and taxes, are an inevitable fact of business life. Many, unfortunately, turn out to be a huge waste of time. Instead of generating ideas, engagement and commitment, meetings often zap team members’ energy, replacing it with apathy and boredom.

 

In the work I do, I hear the complaints from people working in a variety of businesses. It’s a constant source of frustration for people.

 

Meetings become counterproductive when they lose focus, go on too long, dilute authority, diffuse responsibility and delay decisions. Routinely referring a matter to a meeting may satisfy those who are cautious and analytical, but this bad habit frustrates action-oriented risk takers.

 

Humans are a social species, and meetings fulfill an innate need. Loyalty increases when we participate in teams and meetings—as long as we perceive them to have purpose, value and meaning.

 

What can you do to ensure your meetings are productive and useful—not just socially satisfying?

 

Meeting Functions

 

  1. A meeting defines the team, group or department. It specifies a purpose, outlines steps to achieve goals and identifies desired outcomes. Attendees gain a sense of identity and belonging.

 

  1. Participants share knowledge, add to each other’s experiences, and pool their strengths to produce better ideas and plans.

 

  1. A focused, productive meeting affirms participants’ commitment to decisions and objectives. Such meetings set the stage for accountability plans. Well-prepared leaders are catalysts for engagement, energy and enthusiasm.

 

  1. Meetings pose opportunities for team members and leaders to demonstrate strengths, talents and collaborative abilities.

 

Most meetings will fall into one of these four categories of functions. If you aren’t clear about why you’re meeting, perhaps it’s time to get focused and purposeful. Don’t assume that gathering everyone in a room for a meeting will solve problems and issues.

 

Unless you know what you want to accomplish and set a clear agenda, you risk wasting everyone’s time and causing more problems than you solve.

 

What’s your opinion? How effective are the meetings in your company? I’d love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: attendees, bad habit, boredom, business life, catalysts, collaborative abilities, death and taxes, diana, inevitable fact, loyalty, risk takers, social species, sustainable leadership, team group, team members

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with Diana

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Testimonials

Working with Diana was great. She helped me identify my leadership strengths and find ways to use them to maximize my value to the organization as I transitioned into a new role with greater responsibility.
Executive of a NonprofitMissouri
The main benefit of coaching was simply the reworking of my priorities to bring some semblance of balance back into my life as it applied to my family relationships and personal well-being.
Stephen S. TalmageBishop, Grand Canyon Synod

Creating a Framework for Success as a Sustainable Leader in a Socially Connected Environment
Being a sustainable leader isn’t just a ‘touchy-feely’ term. It’s about creating innovation and collaboration within your environment. It’s about accomplishing goals that matter. And yes, it’s even about improving the bottom line of your business.

Because nothing is sustainable if it doesn’t “increase profitability and your competitive advantage.”

Download my Complimentary Workbook: “Creating a Framework for Success as a Sustainable Leader in a Socially Connected Environment.”

Recent Blog Posts

  • Authentic Leaders Make Passion Contagious
  • Authentic Leaders Put Values Into Practice
  • Direct Communication is Required for Authentic Leadership
  • Adaptability is Required for Authentic Leadership
  • The Need for Authentic Leadership

Blog Post Archives

Contact Information

DianaSmLogo Diana Gabriel, PPC
Professional Certified Coach

diana@dianagabriel.com
507.345.7090

Top Posts & Pages

  • The 4 Components of Trust
  • The Ten Commandments to Human Relations
  • What are the Crucibles of Leadership?

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
  • Home
  • About
  • Coaching
  • Workshops
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Site Map

Copyright © 2021 — Diana Gabriel, PPC • All rights reserved. • Privacy Statement • Legal Notice

  • Home
  • About
  • Coaching
  • Workshops
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Site Map