Meetings, and how to hold them

Meetings are a substitute for doing work. Meetings are a way of spreading responsibility when things go wrong. Meetings provide an organised way for going wrong with confidence. The best meetings are held standing up. When in doubt, call a meeting.

Wisdom on meetings is all-encompassing, as seems sometimes the time spent in meetings.

Google's vice president of search structures Marissa Mayer holds around 70 meetings a week, and for her none of those bromides are true. She "credits her meeting structure for leading to some of the most innovative advances in technology today" -- her meetings are meetings in which things actually do get done. She has six 'keys' to a successful meeting, outlined here. Here's a summary:

1. Set a firm agenda
2. Assign a note-taker
3. Carve out micro-meetings
4. Hold office hours
5. Discourage politics, use data
6. Stick to the clock
   

My favourite innovation is the four-foot high timer projected on the wall, showing how many minutes left for a meeting or a topic.

LINKS: How to run a meeting like Google - Business Week Online

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