what i dread most...

why do i have so little time for myself?

the answer lies in unproductive and long winded meetings that all people dread.

thankfully besides sitting through 5 hrs of consecutive meetings today, i need not take the mins this time round. as the hours drag on, i lost concentration and my head was throbbing. looking at the entire proceedings, the duration could have been halved since many points have been revisited before.

my 2 cents worth for conducting effective meetings:

1. a strong facilitator is required to control the flow and prevent discussion from going off tangent.


2. too many cooks spoil the broth. having too many contributors abt the same point lengthens the discussion unncessarily. Too often, people don't realise they are just talking around the problem instead of attacking the core of the problem. i hate it intensely! talking about it doesn't change a thing. the purpose of meeting up is to solve it. Hence the facilitator needs to direct the discussion towards tackling the issue.


3. following closely to the agenda and avoid discussing minute details. attendees get distracted and lose focus. taking it offline helps!


4. get to the point! this requires a fairly good communicator to summarize it succinctly in a few sentences. explain the objective at the beginning so that listeners will know what to take note before the rambling speech begins.


5. lastly, give an effective conclusion after every agenda belps in crystallising the points discussed. this can greatly help those who are lost in the discussion to retain the gist of the message.

i like short and sweet discussion that doesn't end up without a conclusion. recognise that if the problem cannot be solved in a single session or if we are missing out on some important inputs, move on and leave it till the next discussion. unless the meetings are facilitated by someone else, i take pride that my sessions don't last beyond 2 hours. in fact, it's my personal KPI to keep it short and succinct.

seriously, some people ought to reflect and repent...