Meetings are a necessary part of organizational culture and can either be energizing or excruciating, depending on the strength of the meeting's organizer. What comes to your mind when you think of the word "meeting"?

Coming to my mind as I type this are flashbacks of the most boring and unproductive times of my career. Yikes! Most of the time when I think of my past experiences with meetings, I think of some of the things Mike Rogers wrote in his post last week entitled "8 Important tips to help you waste time in meetings". I highly recommend reading through his list.

Leaders who know how to effectively run meetings set themselves apart from the rest. They are few and far between. In addition to doing the opposite of what you might find in Mike's list, here are some tips to make the most use of your time and your attendees' time during your meetings:

1. Clearly identify your desired outcome. Why are you having this meeting?
2. Choose your meeting length and structure based upon your desired outcome. (e.g tactical  meetings differ from strategic planning)
3. Create a parking lot to capture ideas that require a separate meeting so you can keep focused.
4. Coordinate and collaborate during your meeting time. Avoid reading committee or departmental "reports" that can be communicated via written format.

What do you need to change about your current meeting structure? Changing the way you run meetings might just be the most productive thing you do this year! If you've got a story about how changing your meeting structure impacted your organization, we'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.