HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter (HBR Guide Series)

This guide brings together 30 articles on improving meetings, originally published by business specialists in other volumes or posted on Harvard Business Review's website from 2009 to 2016. They address preparation, conducting meetings, participation, closing and follow-up, and specific types of meetings, and discuss topics like setting and communicating the meeting's purpose, inviting the right people, preparing an achievable agenda, moderating a lively conversation, regaining control of a unruly meeting, establishing ground rules for participation, reaching group decisions, interjecting, conducting a meeting of people from different cultures, and virtual, standing, walking, and leadership meetings. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Meetings. They hold such promise for moving your business forward, but they rarely deliver. We all know the steps we’re supposed to take to run an effective meeting, but we seldom follow them. Why? Perhaps it just doesn’t seem worth the time to pinpoint what we want to accomplish, craft an agenda, handpick participants, issue prework, and, after the meeting, send out notes summarizing key decisions and next steps.But meeting preparation and follow-up is time well spent. This guide offers practical tips to make your meetings easier to prepare for, more enjoyable to run, and more productive. In time, these steps will become so ingrained you won’t be able to imagine running a meeting any other way. You’ll learn how to:? determine whether you even need to meet? manage basic meeting prep? orchestrate group decision making? get the most out of web- and phone-conferencing tools? cope with chronic latecomers, windbags, and other common problems? turn a bad meeting around? keep the momentum going with prompt meeting follow-up? develop a reputation for running great meetingsArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.