Office Etiquette: Meetings

In an attempt to limit the amount of unnecessary time in the office, it seems there should be some general rules or considerations made when it comes to working with others. In this particular entry I will provide my insights and "resolutions" for the year 2011 in the way of work related meetings.

Some general personal guidelines/rules that I follow:

• Do NOT schedule or accept same day meeting requests. Take the time to plan and be courteous to other people's time.
  
• Meeting coordinator should always take control of the meeting and don't allow those joining late to make those that were able to join the meeting on time to hear a recap of the entire meeting.
• Passive participation in meetings that have more than 8-10 people. Meetings that have more than 8-10 people are ineffective.
  
• When joining a meeting, especially late, have the courtesy to wait for an appropriate break to announce you have joined. Seriously... is it that you are that oblivious, rude, or full of yourself that you feel that everyone must know that you have joined regardless of what the current conversation is?
• Conference calls are a pain, if you have a group in a conference room, be aware of the conference room logistics, background noise, etc.

General meeting tips:

• Meetings should have a goal or purpose
• Meetings should have an agenda
• Be deliberate in your choice of invitees
  
• Meetings should always have meeting minutes. If people are going to take the time to attend and participate in the meeting, the coordinator should respect this by providing minutes to recap the meeting.
  
• Sensitivity to everyone's time and ensure to optimize the time allocated. In other words, don't spend a lot of time with small talk, stay on track with the agenda, and certainly end the meeting when the goals have been accomplished.