I have wasted a lot of time in work meetings. Not all meetings are bad, but I have learned to avoid bad meetings as much as possible. When I’m in a bad meeting, I can’t help but to hear the line from Pacino in the movie Heat where he is walking away from a meetup with his informant and screams out, “Don’t waste my #!%!^$#! time!!”

Bad meetings are not a knowledge problem. We all know the best practices for meetings. We know about inviting the right people, scheduling appropriate time, having an agenda, making effective use of everyone’s time during the meeting, and meeting minutes. 

The problem is action. We do not hold each other accountable to the best practices for meetings. It starts with the meeting organizer, but it continues with meeting participants. Everyone has a role to play to ensure meetings are effective.

If I’m running a meeting, I don’t mess around. I’m like Sinatra: I start on time and leave everyone wanting more.

I have a lot more to say about meetings, which is why I wrote an article about it. Let’s just say I turned a meat fetish into a framework for effective meetings. Apologies to the folks who are somehow offended by carnivores. I hope you enjoy it.

28 of the most annoying things about meetings and how to solve them