Award-Winning Customer Service: 101 Ways to Guarantee Great Performance

72. Plan Productive Meetings

You have surely been to meetings that waste your time, meetings you had no need to attend. You wondered why you were there. Or, perhaps, you did have a reason to attend, but the meeting was unsuccessful. Possibly the leader was ineffective, lacking in control, or unprepared. Or, the attendees got off track. Or the issue was not resolved. All of these are time wasters. Never schedule a meeting unless you have a good reason. When the meeting is your responsibility, plan carefully so that you do not waste your coworkers’ time. When coworkers take time away from their busy schedules to attend your meeting, be sure you know the who, what, where, when, and how of a productive meeting.

Performance Prompts

• Productive meetings ...