Successful Blog

Here is a good place for a call to action.

  • Home
  • Community
  • About
  • Author Guidelines
  • Liz’s Book
  • Stay Tuned

Why Do Your Meetings Go Nowhere?

October 9, 2013 by Thomas

Surprisingly, office meetings are always long. You hardly ever hear of anyone complaining that the meetings were too short.

Every company has its own culture when it comes to meetings and how they are conducted. The general sentiments surrounding office meetings however make them appear boring and ineffective.

But why should it be this way? Is there an alternative to making meetings productive?

The fact remains that every meeting usually has an agenda that is communicated either before or during the meeting.

What makes meetings seem like they are ‘going nowhere’ has to do with the set up and the premise for which these meetings are held and how the content is passed on.

Below are some reasons behind the failure of company meetings.

Objectives Aren’t Clear

Every meeting started must have clear objectives.

Lack of tangible and well-structured objectives not only wastes time but also confuse the attendees who may be left to guess what the meeting is all about. Be sure of what you are trying to achieve by holding the meeting and bring that objective out clearly.

To help you on this, a pre-meeting review and rehearsal would be appropriate just to ensure that the agenda is in order and the points are well arranged, this enhances and streamlines the objectives of the meetings. Unless you convince yourself, you may not be able to convince the rest of the attendees.

Unregulated Number of Attendees

Before holding any meeting, the number of people to attend these meetings needs to be checked and ascertained.

Not everyone should attend the office meetings. In fact that is one of the reasons that make these meetings fail in making an impact. The more the people attending the meeting, the higher the likelihood that such a meeting will consume so much time compared to the set time limits.

Instead of each person attending the meeting, only a few should be picked and the rest served with a brief summary of the discussions later on.

Time Blown

A meeting is ‘elastic’ in nature; it tends to stretch out to fill whatever time it has been allocated.

Meetings which take longer than necessary tend to eat into the company’s time and still end up being counterproductive. Part of the time allocated will normally be used for conversations that are not even company related or if they are then not on the agenda.

To make such meetings successful, you can reduce the time so that only the relevant things get time to be discussed.

The ‘Latecomer’ Factor

Meetings tend to spend too much time on arrivals. Late arrivals in particular can waste time for the entire group.

The solution to this is to start the meeting on time so that latecomers will find ways to catch up on their own. People will soon shape up and arrive in time because latecomers are embarrassed walking in when others are embroiled in deep discussions. This will save time for the whole group and the meeting will achieve its purpose.

Conducting Sitting Instead Of Stand-Up Meetings

Research shows that stand-up meetings take lesser time that those where people are seated.

This is because stand-up meetings tend to make people less comfortable, meaning decisions are arrived faster, deliberations made in record times and only pertinent issues get airtime. So far these meetings have been ranked among those that are productive and efficient.

Remember time saved in the course of a meeting is always equated to productive time given back to the company.

Discuss more with less time; you will find meetings meaningful and effective.

Photo credit: imlworldwide.com

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on how to be first on Google, social media, marketing, and other business topics.

Filed Under: Business Life Tagged With: bc, employees, Meetings, office, production, strategy

Cool Tool Review: Weave the People

September 30, 2010 by Guest Author

Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools, products, and practices that could belong in an entrepreneurial business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks in a business environment.

Cool Tool Review: Weave the People
A Review by Todd Hoskins

A few years ago I attended an intimate, oceanside conference outside of San Diego. The 70 of us in attendance spent the weekend participating in roundtable discussions, eating, and sipping cocktails. Sunday afternoon, while checking out of the resort, I met the people I wish I would have connected with on Friday. We exchanged contact info, but the opportunity was largely lost, as we live on opposite ends of the country.

This is a common frustration with meetings and conferences. How can people with matching interests, needs, and talents find one another?

Despite the growth of social technology, there is no replacement for the value and possibilities that can emerge from meeting face-to-face. Gladwell is right – there are limitations inherent in the “loose ties” of online connections. There is a reason that tweetups are popular and location based technologies have taken off. People want to meet, and any “friend” or “connection” is peripheral until you shake hands, share a meal or drink, and can establish trust looking at each other directly. Albert Mehrabian has proposed that words constitute only 7% of communication – the rest is tone and body language.

So, the Internet is an incredibly powerful medium for exploring, finding, and learning about people. Then, at some point, the relationship has amplified possibilities when we move from cyberspace to sharing physical space. This is exactly why Weave the People is such a valuable tool, by accelerating the discovery process, allowing organizations and people to connect with their wants and needs in group settings.

It works like this: If you are hosting a conference, meeting, or event, contact Weave the People, and they will work with you to develop a series of questions. These questions are designed to help you meet your goals for the event, whether you want to increase the connectivity of your employees, match vendors and buyers, or just help people have fun.

Weave will help you poll your prospective attendees, then “weave” together profiles in a simple, visually appealing layout. Send the link in advance of the event, and the people who are attending have a chance to navigate through the profiles and make decisions based on their motivations for being in attendance. For the less-socially-gifted, this is a gift in itself. You automatically have conversation starters that are pre-approved.

weave

I love the fact that Weave has a high-minded mission and philosophy, getting to an “authentic we,” utilizing technology to increase our humanness rather than our isolation. But it just works as well, making meetings more enjoyable and a better return on investment.

You can watch some demos here.

Summing Up – Is it worth it?

Enterprise Value: 4/5 – Very reasonable in cost. Mobile app (in planning) will make this even better.

Entrepreneur Value: 5/5 – Finding employees, partners, investors, and advocates at events just got easier.

Personal Value: 5/5 – Not all questions need to be business-related. Bringing the personal and professional profile elements together creates deeper, more sustainable connections.

Let me know what you think!

Todd Hoskins helps small and medium sized businesses plan for the future, and execute in the present. With a background in sales, marketing, and technology, he works with executives to help create thriving organizations through developing and clarifying values, strategies, and tactics. You can learn more at VisualCV, or contact him on Twitter.

Filed Under: Successful Blog, Tools Tagged With: bc, collaboration, Meetings, Todd Hoskins, Weave the People

Recently Updated Posts

How to Become a Better Storyteller

SEO and Content Marketing

How to Use Both Content Marketing and SEO to Amplify Your Blog

9 Practical Work-at-Home Ideas For Moms

How to Monetize Your Hobby

How To Get Paid For Sharing Your Travel Stories

7 reasons why visitors leave websites for ever



From Liz Strauss & GeniusShared Press

  • What IS an SOB?!
  • SOB A-Z Directory
  • Letting Liz Be

© 2025 ME Strauss & GeniusShared