How often do you leave a meeting with more energy than when you entered it?

How often do you sit in a meeting and wonder:

- What the point of the meeting is

- Why you are there

- When is this going to end so I can get on and do some work

A good meeting should leave you:

- feeling full of energy

- clear on what you (and others) are doing next

For most people, it rarely if ever happens.

Earlier this week I observed a 2.5-hour meeting that I struggle now to think of what the actions were. It was so energy sapping you could see people switching off and failing to pay attention to the agenda.

This means that meetings are a waste of time and money. Instead of being a source of a good organisational culture they are a drain on it.

The good news is that it is easy to change.

To make your meetings better, more enjoyable and action focussed, really quickly, just start by answering these 5 questions:

1. What action do we want or need from the meeting?

2. Does everyone attending the meeting know why they are there?

3. Who is in charge?

4. What time are we starting and ending?

5. How are we going to make sure the actions are achieved?

That way you will have the right people attending. The right agenda. The right energy.

And the right approach: using meetings to get things done.