My frustration with meetings is increasing… I believe that on a daily basis I violate each of the issues listed below… I only hope that by publicly taking a stance against these evils, that I will be forced to fix my behavior...

Laptops at meetings...

Why do people attend meetings when they aren't going to contribute? I can understand if the entire point of the meeting is to disseminate information. All too often I see a meeting where, as everyone sits down every person opens their laptop and promptly begins browsing their email or the web. Before anyone points out the obvious - I have been guilty of this also. I recognize this is a problem, and I try to stop. The wireless network has brought us unparalleled connectivity, but (to quote spiderman) with great power comes great responsibility.

Being on time...

Being late to meetings has become so commonplace that people will only comment if you are ten minutes late - five is expected. Of course, to fill the time gap while we all wait for you we at least can check our email. :)

Scheduling meetings...

Schools long ago figured out that it actually takes humans time to travel from one location to another. They respond to this requirement by making each class 50 minutes long starting at the top of the hour. This gives each student 10 minutes to travel from one class to the next. Since no one (well, including me) has the curtsey to do the same this guarantees that you will be late for the next meeting.

What about core hours? In a company with no required schedule, people widely vary the time of meetings. Amar (sorry, his weblog is offline) scheduled me for a meeting tonight at 6:00pm. I couldn’t understand why he would schedule a meeting so late - I started the day at 8:00am after all (and I’m trying to have a home life). Of course, for Amar (who started his day at 10:00am) a 6:00pm meeting was clearly in the middle of his day. In an industry where people can work any hours they like, how appropriate is it to limit meetings to the times when “you” are comfortable?

Meeting purpose...

People should know the goals and objectives (and hopefully agenda) of a meeting before you ask them to attend. Brainstorming, Reviewing, and Information Briefing meetings are very different and need a different audience. I have seen more meetings where someone decides that every “reviewer” needs to attend the “brainstorming” meeting - making the invite list for a brainstorm meeting be 20 people... not very productive for brainstorming.

Preparing for a meeting...

If you are going to attend, you should be prepared. If the meeting is a review - read the material before hand. If the meeting is a brainstorming meeting, try to spend at least 5 minutes before you get to the meeting (maybe in the morning, when reviewing your schedule?) to think of a few ideas. You are invited to meetings to participate, not to take up space!

Ending a meeting...

When a meeting is about to end (which should be as soon possible, not when the scheduled time is up), a few things should happen… Notes that can be read and understood by people at the meeting should be posted to a public (well, public to the organization/context that the meeting was help in) location… Tasks should be assigned to specific individuals with due dates, expected deliverables, etc... Decisions should be broadcast to all affected