Washington Post
By Marie Wilson • October 7, 2009
When you are really passionate about what you do, you have to work hard to sort out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to meetings. From a management theory perspective, it is completely unproductive to attend every meeting scheduled, but when your work is your font of energy, it is difficult to say "no" to an opportunity to convey your enthusiasm, ideas, etc. to the group assembled. The bottom line is knowing your assets, and where and at which meetings your presence can be most useful.
But in this age of e-mail, I am a firm believer in the value of face-time with staff. As Harvard's Marty Linsky and Ron Heifetz have posited in their work on adaptive leadership, in-person meetings build the morale of an organization, which is especially important in these economic times when employees are often asked to perform the work of two or three people.
The key to meeting effectiveness is a good agenda. A well-agendaed meeting where all participants get to the point succinctly, and leave the room with tasks in hand (or in Blackberry, as it were) is productive, creates an essential esprit de corps, and hopefully precludes the need for several future follow-up meetings!
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