I served on the board of a non-profit organization for just over three years. Even though those who facilitated the board meetings were following the majority of the guidelines set out in this article, nearly all of the meetings were a monumental waste of time. And all because of one person.

This gentleman made his living as a professional speaker. Because of his profession and his influence with the board chairman, he was given deference. The expectation would be that he would be articulate and concise. Just the opposite was true. He just didn't wander off the subject, he seemed to never have a subject. I've never seen anyone who could talk so long about nothing. Even though these meetings had written agendas, he always came with his own written agenda. Which he never followed. The meetings that he did not attend were models of efficiency and productivity lasting about an hour. Those meetings he did attend lasted at least three hours.

I would add this to Mr. Adams excellent agenda for a productive meeting, Do your best to know the personality and communication style of each person attending. If you have regular meetings with the same group of people (i.e. a staff meeting) you should be able ascertain this information fairly quickly. If your meeting is with a new client, spend a little time talking with them in general conversation. This should give you a least a quick evaluation of their personality and communication style.

The advantage of having this information is that you will know better when to put the brakes on a rambling time waster who's making no contribution and when to encourage the reticent participant who just might have the idea that wins the client.

And now I must go to a meeting...