Ebook: HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter

Meetings. They hold such promise for moving your business forward, but they rarely deliver. We all know the steps we're supposed to take to run an effective meeting, but we seldom follow them. Why? Perhaps it just doesn't seem worth the time to pinpoint what we want to accomplish, craft an agenda, handpick participants, issue prework, and, after the meeting, send out notes summarizing key decisions and next steps. But meeting preparation and follow-up is time well spent. This guide offers practical tips to make your meetings easier to prepare for, more enjoyable to run, and more productive. In time, these steps will become so ingrained you won't be able to imagine running a meeting any other way. You'll learn how to: determine whether you even need to meet manage basic meeting prep orchestrate group decision making get the most out of web- and phone-conferencing tools cope with chronic latecomers, windbags, and other common problems turn a bad meeting around keep the momentum going with prompt meeting follow-up develop a reputation for running great meetings;Preface: The condensed guide to running meetings : the 5-minute version of everything you need to know / Amy Gallo -- Section 1: Prepare -- Do you really need to hold that meeting? : a simple tool to help you decide / Elizabeth Grace Saunders -- Stop calling every conversation a "meeting" : we need a more effective vocabulary / Al Pittampalli -- If you can't say what your meeting will accomplish, you shouldn't have it : set a purpose by answering two questions / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene -- How to design an agenda for an effective meeting : a productive meeting begins here / Roger Schwarz -- The key to shorter, better meetings : a filter to help you articulate your purpose / Anthony Tjan -- The 50-minute meeting : build in time for transition / David Silverman -- The magic of 30-minute meetings : give yourself less time and you'll get more done / Peter Bregman -- Meetings need a shot clock : tackle your agenda by beating the buzzer / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene -- Are there too many people in your meeting? : probably, a rule of thumb -- Section 2: Conduct -- Before a meeting, tell your team that silence denotes agreement : speak now or forever hold your peace / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene -- Establish ground rules : set expectations for participation -- Reach group decisions during meetings : you have options for gathering input and moving forward -- The right way to cut people off in meetings : "Jellyfish!" / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene -- Dealing with people who derail meetings : having an explicit purpose will get you back on track / Roger Schwarz -- Refocus a meeting after someone interrupts : listen, validate, and redirect / Rebecca Knight -- Section 3: Participate -- Polite ways to decline a meeting invitation : preserve your time -- and the relationship / Liane Davey -- How to interject in a meeting : useful phrases to introduce ideas, disagree, and express confusion /Jodi Glickman -- Stuck in a meeting from hell? : here's what to do, don't just sit there and suffer / Melissa Raffoni -- 7 ways to stop a meeting from dragging on : break free from the silent majority / Joseph Grenny -- When your boss is terrible at leading meetings : three tactics for turning things around / Paul Axtell -- Section 4: Close and follow up -- The right way to end a meeting : with closure / Paul Axtell -- Don't end a meeting without doing these 3 things : make sure everyone's on the same page / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene -- Section 5: Specific types of meetings -- What everyone should know about running virtual meetings : just three things / Paul Axtell -- How to run a great virtual meeting : rules matter more / Keith Ferrazzi -- Conduct a meeting of people from different cultures : help them step outside their comfort zones / Rebecca Knight -- Making global meetings work : inconvenience everybody equally / June Delano -- Give your standing meetings a makeover : do away with the same old-same old / Martha Craumer -- How to do walking meetings right : boost your creative thinking and engagement / Russell Clayton, Chris Thomas, and Jack Smothers -- Stand-up meetings don't work for everybody : are they speedy or sexist, ageist, and heightest? / Bob Frisch -- Leadership summits that work : stop putting your top people to sleep / Bob Frisch and Cary Greene