Guidelines For Conducting A Good Meeting

Okay, so you've figured out what kind of meeting is needed, you've planned well and you have all the right materials. How about the meeting itself? How can you be sure the meeting you've so carefully planned and prepared actually comes off as expected?

The checklist below can help you through the process.

- Begin on time, clearly stating the meeting objective and your intentions to stick to type, time, topic, agenda

- Obtain agreement on the agenda items and times for each item

- Agenda changes must be consistent with meeting objective, type, time limits

- Consider having a time keeper, rather than letting topics exceed time limits

- Use action language to assign responsibilities -- What will be accomplished, who will accomplish it, time frames and deliverables (when and how to be accomplished)

- Appoint a scribe to document meeting results

- Have a "parking lot" for topics not on the agenda - at end of meeting - Review parking lot, decide resolution, assign follow-up, if appropriate

- Anyone who feels the process is not supporting the objectives of the meeting should speak up and share this observation

- Decide date and time for next meeting, if needed

- Debrief the meeting (should take less than 5 minutes). Ask questions like Was the meeting necessary? Did the meeting begin and end on time? Was the agenda adhered to? Were participants objective, and all viewpoints heard? Were outside interruptions avoided? Did all participants have an opportunity to contribute? Were digressions and repetitions avoided? Were win/win solutions achieved? Was feedback offered and accepted?

- End on time

Denise O'Berry - aka 'Team Doc' - is the founder of http://www.teambuildingtips.com Visit our site for helpful team building tips and tools and advice.

Ball State University Selects Campus Management's Talisma CRM and Fundraising ... MarketWatch (press release) 6, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Campus Management Corp., a leading provider of enterprise software products and services for educational institutions, today announced that Ball State University will implement its Talismaź CRM and Fundraising ... and more »

GraphOn hires VP, product management and marketing Bizjournals.com GraphOn Corp. said Monday it has hired Christoph Berlin as its vice president of product management and marketing. The Santa Cruz-based company (OTCBB:GOJO), develops cloud application delivery and Web-enabling technologies. GraphOn Appoints Christoph Berlin as Vice President of Product Management and ...MarketWatch (press release) all 9 news articles »

Bloomberg

Losses of Japanese Electronic Firms Worsen Bloomberg Enlarge image Panasonic Reports Highest Loss Ever Panasonic Reports Highest Loss Ever Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Attendees look over Panasonic Corp. products at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, US Play Video Play ... Sony, Panasonic Forecast Worsening Losses as Samsung DominatesBusinessWeek Panasonic yearly net loss to top $9 billionPakistan Daily Times Panasonic headed for record $10B lossToronto Sun all 108 news articles »

Mr. Carlos A. Contreras Appointed President, International Operations ... MarketWatch (press release) MIAMI, FLORIDA, Feb 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- BioNitrogen Corp. (BION) (pinksheets:BION), developer of a revolutionary patent-pending technology for converting renewable and abundant biomass waste into high-nitrogen urea and urea fertilizer, ... and more »

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC sees Q1 revenue lagging Reuters By Clare Jim | TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan smartphone maker HTC Corp expects to post much lower-than-expected revenue in the first quarter, underscoring analyst views that it will face another weak quarter and an uphill struggle to prove to investors it ... and more »

Bloomberg

Most Takeovers Since 2007 Spurred by Data Torrent Bloomberg Enlarge image Most Takeovers Since 2007 Seen Spurred by Data Torrent Most Takeovers Since 2007 Seen Spurred by Data Torrent Tony Avelar/Bloomberg Hewlett-Packard Co., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. led a 36 percent gain in technology deals last year. Big Year for Tech MergersBusinessWeek all 6 news articles »

DIARY-S&P 500 EARNINGS MONTH AHEAD Reuters ... 0.72 07 Feb AMC Q4 Life Technologies Corp 1.04 22 0.90 07 Feb AMC Q4 Lincoln National Corp 1.00 19 0.92 07 Feb AMC Q4 Western Union Co 0.40 27 0.38 08 Feb BMO Q4 Apartment Investment and Management Co -0.30 5 -0.33 08 Feb AMC Q4 Akamai Technologies ... and more »

HedgeCo.net

Former Sailfish Partner Naro Launches New Firm FINalternatives Sal Naro, former co-managing partner Sailfish Capital, is launching a new asset management firm, Coherence Capital Partners. The launch follows a management buyout of the core insurance business at Jefferson National Financial Corp., where Naro was a ... Hedge Fund Manager Sal Naro Launches Coherence Capital Partners LLCHedgeCo.net Former UBS fixed income head establishes New York boutiqueInvestment Europe all 6 news articles »

Tranzbyte Corporation Acquires ProximaRF MarketWatch (press release) Altitude Organic Corporation has launched its new management company strategy in Arizona. The company can manage, staff, consult, and provide uniquely branded products and concepts to medical marijuana dispensaries using a limited liability agreement. and more »

Corporate Bonds: Buyers Flock To Corporate Debt On US Jobs Data Wall Street Journal "People are really putting risk back on the table," said Mark Cernicky, managing director of fixed income at Principal Global Investors, which has $72.4 billion in fixed-income assets under management. Markit's CDX North-America Investment-Grade Index, ... and more »