Making Meetings Matter

And, yes, she is one of those who will call on an attendee who might be typing away at a BlackBerry or playing a game on a cell phone.

Too often, she said, meetings don't have an agenda or a leader who will make sure everyone stays on track. And that's when the meeting becomes an utter waste of time. "One person counters one point, and you all go there. Then another brings up another point, and an hour passes and you've accomplished nothing."

For years, people have tried to balance the fact that meetings are necessary with the fact that many meetings are disasters. How many times have we nodded our head in agreement during a meeting, just to think later, "Wait, I didn't think that was such a good idea." To actually disagree during a meeting can cause more confusion, and, of course, more wasted time, than many of us are willing to spare. So we often engage in "group think" and simply agree.

"It's hard to go against the tide and swim upstream," said Paul Villella, chief executive of HireStrategy, a Reston staffing firm. "It could turn into an argument or a debate. You don't want that."

Why? Because some people take disagreement with their idea personally or are simply annoyed that the meeting is about to last longer than expected.

But it is important to not let people's opinions be squashed for fear of knocking the meeting off track or upsetting someone.

For instance, Cortner has been in meetings where people have created a "parking lot." A new topic is introduced, but instead of getting off of the original topic or dragging the meeting on, the new idea is written on a piece of paper and put on the table in a "parking lot." The idea is to say, "It's a great thought, but now is not the time," Cortner said.

To try to make sure people aren't just agreeing for the "good" of the meeting, Cortner often asks "what-ifs" to get people to bring in new ideas. What if we don't have the budget we think we might have? What if the client doesn't like this particular idea? It's important to remember to do this because "you have a tendency to invite people you know to agree with you on something," she said. "Getting differing opinions is a great thing, but you have to establish some controls."

Trying to establish some sort of control was always important to Bill Walton. As chief executive of ITC Learning until 1998, a Herndon company that makes training software, he ran meetings "with an iron glove," said one of his former employees.

No doubt about that, he said. "Meetings to me that are conducted without respect for the people in them are a waste of time," he said. He encouraged people to speak up and made sure no one ever was "humiliated or teased because of their ideas or opinions," he said.

But he didn't mind if someone was humiliated if they were late to one of his meetings.

"I believe that when meetings are announced for a certain time, anybody that does not show up on time is not showing respect for the other people," he said.

And so to show that respect, he started his meetings just when he said he would. And once a meeting started, he locked the door. What's more, no one was allowed to let latecomers inside, even if they knocked.

Walton did say that he had to do that only once or twice.

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