I was asked recently to write a guest blog post for a web collaboration solution (FuzeMeeting) that I've been consulting with the past few months - if any of you are looking for a healthy alternative to the hassle that is WebEx/GoToMeeting then make sure you give this app a try! 

Here’s a riddle for you – Let’s say you’re going to schedule a one hour meeting for ten people.  How many hours is that in total? If you said 10 hours then you are CORRECT!  When you think about it – the true cost of meetings are staggering.

No wonder 37 Signal’s founders Jason Fried and David Heinermeier Hannson in their latest book REWORK called most meetings “Toxic” (they wrote a whole chapter on it!).   And they may have a point – the majority of meetings fall well short of their objectives for a variety of reasons – Agendas are too vague, no clear purpose for the meeting, no one is in charge, and worst of all, meetings have a tendency to procreate. (Into another meeting, and so on, and so on..)

So what’s the solution?

Trumpets blow – (ta da ta da!!!)

1.       Send a typed agenda with the meeting invite. Agenda item #1, announce the meeting objective and clearly state the purpose for the meeting. (It also helps to set a time limit.)

2.       It’s your meeting, own it! Be sure all points of view are given a respectful hearing, but remember  it’s your job to make sure everyone stays on topic and to suggest a “why don’t you take this offline” when the moment presents itself.

3.       End on time. At this point hopefully your meeting was a wild success, but if your attendees know that your meetings end on time come rain or shine, they’ll be that much more ready for a no-nonsense meeting next time you meet.

4.       Send out minutes of the meeting (or a meeting recording via Fuze) within 24 hours.  This recording can serve as a record of what was discussed and can help you assign follow-up duties.

Follow these simple rules and you’ll be well on your way to hosting healthy meetings for you and your team.

Happy Fuzing!