Not another meeting! - Planning and conducting effective meetings

Meetings can be viewed as necessary evils, valuable experiences, inspirational events, or intolerably boring curses. The very word meeting can cause various emotions to arise within us. This paper presents various ideas, some heard before, some new, and some with a new twist that lead to more effective and more enjoyable meetings. The approaches are founded on common sense and solid principles of management and human relations, yet they are frequently overlooked. The rules and suggestions focus on reaching meeting objectives, effectively using agendas, nurturing good human relations, and how to leave meetings with an effective plan of action.