What makes for a great meeting? As a leader, how can you keep discussions on point and productive? In How to Run a Meeting, Antony Jay argues that too many leaders fail to plan adequately for meetings. In this bestselling article, he defines the characteristics that contribute to success, from keeping formal minutes to acknowledging junior staff first. These guidelines will help you get demonstrably better results from every meeting you run. Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough ideas in management practice. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers you the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world.

It seems these days that everyone hates meetings. How many times have you heard someone say, "We have too many meetings," or "I am booked so solid every day in meetings I never have time to get anything done," or "I'm back-to-back..." But when you talk to people, it isn't that they hate meetings; it's that they don't like meetings in which nothing gets done. No one is sure why the meeting was called, or why half the people are in the room, or what exactly is supposed to get done, or what was decided. We complain about meetings, but we seem to attend more and more of them. This book is for people who need to lead effective meetings, in any context. It is a blueprint for how to have your meetings work, defined as, meetings that achieve the results you want to achieve, in the meeting and afterwards. It's a how-to guide for using the time you spend planning, organizing and conducting meetings wisely. It's about getting results through meetings. Why are effective meetings important? Meeting quality matters. Well-run organizations have well-run meetings. Sloppily run organizations have sloppily run meetings. What are the signs of a bad meeting? The meeting starts late. There is no agenda. The meeting runs over. No one is sure what if anything was decided or accomplished. The same meeting to discuss the same topic seems to be held over and over again. No one knows what the next steps are or who is supposed to follow up whom for what. Someone monopolizes the meeting and someone else talks in circles, while yet someone else seems to simply rephrase and repeat what has already been said. Nothing discourages people, whether volunteers or employees, like feeling they are wasting their time. Too many meetings waste time. They sap morale, and leave people frustrated or irritated. This is a shame, as leading an effective meeting is not rocket science once you have a blueprint. If you have an allergic reaction to wasting time in meetings, this book is for you. It is divided into five principal sections: - Preparation - Invitation - Agenda - Delivery - Follow Up The sections outline the five phases of a meeting. For your meeting to be successful (again, defined as, a meeting that achieves the results you want to achieve), you must execute each phase successfully. Meetings versus Presentations The tips in this book are intended to apply to both meetings, in which various people interact in a more-or-less informal setting, and presentations, occasions on which a speaker presents material to an audience in a structured, more-or-less formal setting. Some principles apply more directly to meetings, others to presentations. All are relevant to both.

Preface -- Setting the meeting stage -- So many meetings and so much frustration -- Get rid of meetings? no, solve meetings through science -- Evidence-based strategies for leaders -- The image in the mirror is likely wrong -- Meet for 48 minutes -- Agendas are a hollow crutch -- The bigger, the badder -- Don't get too comfortable in that chair -- Deflate negative energy from the start -- No more talking! -- The folly of the remote call-in meeting -- Putting it all together -- Epilogue: trying to get ahead of the science' using science -- Tool: meeting quality self-assessment -- Tool: sample engagement survey and 360 feedback questions on meetings -- Tool: good meeting facilitation checklist -- Tool: huddle implementation checklist -- Tool: agenda template -- Tool: guide to taking good meeting minutes/notes -- Tool: expectations assessment -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Index

The missing how-to manual for being an effective team leader The Art of Coaching Teams is the manual you never received when you signed on to lead a team. Being a great teacher is one thing, but leading a team, or team development, is an entirely different dynamic. Your successes are public, but so are your failures—and there's no specific rubric or curriculum to give you direction. Team development is an art form, and this book is your how-to guide to doing it effectively. You'll learn the administrative tasks that keep your team on track, and you'll gain access to a wealth of downloadable tools that simplify the "getting organized" process. Just as importantly, you'll explore what it means to be the kind of leader that can bring people together to accomplish difficult tasks. You'll find practical suggestions, tools, and clear instructions for the logistics of team development as well as for building trust, developing healthy communication, and managing conflict. Inside these pages you'll find concrete guidance on: Designing agendas, making decisions, establishing effective protocols, and more Boosting your resilience, understanding and managing your emotions, and meeting your goals Cultivating your team's emotional intelligence and dealing with cynicism Utilizing practical tools to create a customized framework for developing highly effective teams There is no universal formula for building a great team, because every team is different. Different skills, abilities, personalities, and goals make a one-size-fits-all approach ineffective at best. Instead, The Art of Coaching Teams provides a practical framework to help you develop your group as a whole, and keep the team moving toward their common goals.

"You hear it all the time. It's the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on. Except it's not actually true. Meetings don't suck--we suck at running meetings. When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better. In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar. This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensures that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away. In the process, you'll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work."--Page [4] of cover.

A leading executive coach pinpoints three vital traits necessary to advance your career In Getting Ahead, one of the top 50 executive coaches in the United States, Joel Garfinkle reveals his signature model for mastering three skills to take your career to the next level: Perception, Visibility, and Influence. The PVI-model of professional advancement will teach you to: (1) Actively promote yourself as an asset and valuable person inside the organization, (2) Increase your visibility to gain others’ recognition and appreciation for your efforts and (3) Become a person of influence who makes key decisions inside the organization. Getting Ahead will put you ahead of the competition to become a known, valued, and desired commodity at your company. For more than two decades, Joel Garfinkle has worked closely with thousands of executives, senior managers, directors, and employees at the world's leading companies, and has authored 300 articles on leadership Offers detailed guidance on how to increase exposure, boost visibility, enhance perceived value for your organization, and ultimately achieve career advancement Explains how to get your name circulating among higher levels of management so others know you, see your results, and acknowledge the impact you bring to the company