But the opposite is all too often true. The problem is that most people dread meetings because the meetings are so purposeless and ineffective. The primary reasons for meetings are to share or brainstorm information or to develop action steps toward accomplishing a goal. All of these lead to poor performance, or no performance at all since no actions follow the meeting. People aren't converting decisions into action, because often there are no decisions made or articulated.
Culture plays a part in how meetings are perceived, too.
Signs of sick meetings are participants arriving late, leaving early, unnecessarily attending by phone, not participating when at the meeting, canceling altogether, spending hours and hours in a meeting, or leaving without a clear idea of why the meeting was held and what the outcome was. The long-term results of poor meetings are more damaging. Low morale, ineffective time management, high project-turnover rate, unavailable employees and zero headway will doom a project and frustrate participants, translating to wasted company funds and talent. Facilitators turn sick meetings into productive work sessions . Have someone facilitate your meetings.