If you must have a meeting, lose the chairs
The following extract on meetings comes from What Ever You Think, Think The Opposite by Paul Arden.
In a meeting you don’t have to worry about how you are coming across to colleagues, because they are busy worrying about how they are coming across to you.
Meetings are for those with not enough to do.
A meeting is a performance, an act to convince people of their own importance.
The real players don’t need to act out the meeting game.
They roll up their sleeves and get on with the job.
A 15 minute stand-up meeting at the start of the day helps get the team on the same page before the work gets done. It should be the only information session scheduled for the day, whereby each team member briefly describes: what they did yesterday; what they are going to do today; and whether they need help with a problem.
For the remainder of the day, meetings should only be scheduled if decisions need to be made by certain project stakeholders. Try to avoid information sessions, and email communication packs instead. Follow these rules and you will discover many more productive hours in your working week.
