Comments on: Calendar Clutter & Meeting Madness

By: Christine Simiriglia

Christine Simiriglia — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:01:30 +0000

Great post. The first step to getting meetings under control is to “just say no”, the second is to make sure that every minute of your day is in your calendar. Then you can honestly say that you don’t have time for something. Learn how here: http://www.organize-more-stress-less.com/One-Calendar-One-Schedule.html

By: Nikki Massaro Kauffman

Nikki Massaro Kauffman — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:57:43 +0000

@Andrew: Thanks! I’ll try to keep that in mind and create some “desk time” meetings for me to get things done by myself.

@Christina: Great tips! I once had someone–who had a history of running long weekly team meetings–request laptop etiquette training because team members were working on laptops during the meeting. It took this person a few more meetings to realize that laptops were a symptom, not the problem. Meetings could be held less frequently, and people who did not need to be there could be excused from them. After that, the laptop problem disappeared.

@Chicago: Send the video our way when you find it.

@Office Space Guy: That’s a very interesting way to evaluate a meeting. Do you have a scoring system you can share with all of us?

By: Office Space Guy

Office Space Guy — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:12:08 +0000

We have started to give a ‘green score’ to elements of a meeting – the location, the room itself (equipment), the travel effects.

If we fall below a certain score, the meeting goes ahead. If we dont, its reviewed by a senior manager who says yes or no.

Works quite well for us…

By: chicago cardiovascular disease

chicago cardiovascular disease — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:01:20 +0000

I am taking a management class right now and we just watched a video on how to run a meeting / when to schedule a meeting etc. It was very informative in a way that was supposed to be fun. A guy was charged with being terrible at meetings in his dreams and it switched back and forth from meetings and a court room. If I remember the name I’ll stop back by.

By: Christina

Christina — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:03:26 +0000

Great post! I’d add: 1. Make sure those you’ve asked to attend NEED to be there (can you update them later with mtg summary?), 2. Send out an agenda a couple of days in advance so requested participants can decide for themselves if they need to be there, 3. If mtg requests run amuck, take back calendar ownership so you have the power to question every meeting and be the master of your time.

By: Andrew Careaga

Andrew Careaga — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:42:27 +0000

Calendaring software — or at least Outlook — is inherently fascist. I hate it. But I’ve learned to use its evil powers to keep some meetings at bay. I block large chunks of time in my Outlook calendar for myself, so that I can actually write, think, catch up on projects, etc.

Give it a try. Look at April and start blocking out huge chunks of time before the meeting fascists get to you. And then, use that time constructively to get the stuff done you need to get done.

Good luck!