Seizing your colleague's desk and other tips how to get rid of pointless meetings

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Are you also terrified before every meeting, considering most of them waste of time? The following tips taken from the article “How to eliminate 90% of your meetings”published on Management Today server might provide you with some useful inspiration.

Seize your colleague’s desk

If you are organizing a meeting to find out your colleagues’ ideas on a particular issue, try seizing a desk to one of them. Get into their office and ask for five minutes’ attention, explaining that this will save you from holding a 30 minute meeting. You can be sure that the person will get straight to the point to get rid of you as soon as possible.

Share documents

Use for example Google tools for content sharing. However, everyone involved must feel free to contribute their opinions and ideas without facing a risk in case they make a mistake.

Organize daily get-togethers

Instead of lengthy weekly or monthly meetings, try daily get-togethers taking no more than 15 minutes. Get used to brief information sharing about key activities and developments.

Refuse waiting an hour for your contribution

If you know that your contribution will be preceded by other speakers’ covering different issues, arrange it with the organizers to come only for your part. Doing this will not only save your time, but it will also make the chair keep to the schedule.

Organize meetings on your own

In case you share your working schedule with your colleagues, get used to making schedules including some time for meetings on your own. Thus, you will have the possibility of working from home or from a meeting room with no one disturbing you.

Fight against the culture of never-ending meetings

It will not be an easy task. However, if you do not agree with something, act! Your colleagues might have the same attitudes towards the meetings and they will be glad if someone decides to impose a change.

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Article source Management Today - website of a UK management magazine
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