Do you attend a lot of meetings in your role? Are you the (dis)organiser or one of the (un)willing participants? Like it or not meetings in one form or another are a necessity of working in a group, so it is important to do your best to make them as productive (and painless) as possible.
A well run meeting can achieve a great deal and be a very efficient mode of communication. A poorly run meeting can be a waste of everyone’s time and just lead to more work. “Meetings, blood meetings” is a classic training film staring John Cheese. It entertainingly depicts everything that contributes to an unproductive meeting. An excerpt is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE7jfQt2ic4 however you may need a subscription to view the complete series.
What are the key aspects of a meeting that leave you feeling the time was well spent. Have you tried techniques like standing or walking meetings, or perhaps meeting informally at a bar or café? While these alternatives would certainly appear to make the meeting more interesting, does that also lead to increase productivity?
ALIAWest will shortly be looking for new members to join the committee. Involvement in ALIAWest goes beyond simply attending a monthly meeting. However, it is a significant part of the role and trying to get people to volunteer to attend meetings, in their own time, can be a tough ask. However, we're always open to new ideas and would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Camille Peters to find out how you can get involved.
 |
| https://flic.kr/p/h1WTNu |
About Helena
