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. Create an agenda and stick to it, for crying out loud. Going into a meeting with the nuts and bolts of what the group wants to discuss, agree on and accomplish increases the chances that participants will make actionable decisions within a set timeframe. Great ideas and beneficial tangents will occur with an agenda and artful facilitation. Watch the clock.