A Few Keys to Better Meetings

I have to say I HATE pointless meetings. I usually go to a couple minister's meetings in the community and have a few at our church each month. I'm considering cutting out the minister's meetings b/c they are pointless and I can't change them. They go on and on about nothing and that's time I can spend with my kids. Here's a few keys I've found to better meetings that I use at the church.

1. Set a time limit on the meeting.
Sarge's Law of Meetings is that a meeting will expand to the time you allow for it. People will be more likely to participate if they know the meeting will last only 1 hour. We've all sat through 3 hour meetings that could have been done in 1 hour. Respect people's time.

2. Set an agenda.
An agenda is the meeting's goals. If you don't have an agenda, you don't need to have a meeting. If the agenda is given out before the meeting, each member can be prepared and not caught off guard during the meeting.

3. Invite only those who need to be there.
I've been in meetings where the leaders were the only ones that needed to be there to make decisions but somehow Mr. Yahoo got invited. Mr. Yahoo questioned every decision and wanted every detail on decisions that were made last month. Keep Mr. Yahoo out.

4. Stay Focused during the meeting.
This is the benefit of telling the members that this meeting will only last an hour and half and I respect your time. I'm able to say we've got 30 minutes left to cover these last three items on our agenda.