Of the many things learned in my experience in management, the value of good meetings would have to be at the top of the list. Think about how much time you are in meetings, how important they are to you in setting or getting direction, developing budgets, establishing programs, and the list goes on. Being in meetings that are managed well can make a significant difference in the culture of a company. It is where accountability and collaboration hit come together. I have posted twice previously on meetings, one being rather prescriptive, Your Next Meeting,  and the second, Get More from Your Meetings, is more in line with the article I am sharing in this post, The First Fives of a Meeting – Shape Its Outcome.

The prior post about the first five minutes of any meeting is spot on. How many meetings have you been in where it takes a fair amount of time to figure out why you are there? Establishing the purpose of any meeting and the desired outcome of the meeting is critical. Hopefully, you will find this article helpful in running your meetings, and for those you don’t run, share the article with those who run your meetings. It might help, and you have the benefit of attending meetings you might enjoy and find very productive.

In full disclosure, I am a huge fan of Patrick Lencioni and have read his book Death by Meetings. If you really want to hit home runs on the meeting front, I suggest reading this book and applying many of the simple yet powerful ideas to your meeting structure. And, just because we work in a ski area doesn’t mean we don’t need productive and enlightening meetings.