Cambridge Business Association
How to Run a More Effective Meeting
Article

How to Run a More Effective Meeting

Adam Bryant
The New York Times, 2017
Read the article

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
auto-generated audio
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×
auto-generated audio

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples
  • For Beginners

Recommendation

Everyone with a job has experienced this frustration at least once: Instead of doing something productive, you find yourself wasting an hour in a meeting where nothing of value happens. But the good news is that there’s a better way. Adam Bryant, editorial director of live journalism at The New York Times, offers you simple but effective ways to stop having bad meetings. He begins with fundamental actions, then progresses to more complex topics such as managing personality dynamics. getAbstract recommends this article to anyone who regularly organizes or attends meetings, and to anyone who wants to stop squandering their time.

Summary

When it comes to running an effective meeting, there are three basic rules everyone should follow: 1) Have an agenda, 2) start and end on time, and 3) finish with an action plan.

Beyond those fundamental guidelines, meeting leaders can take further actions to ensure discussions are productive and not just a waste of everyone’s time:

  • “Give everyone a role” – If you tell people what the meeting is for and what you want from them, they’re more likely to participate. Is the meeting for brainstorming, for setting an...

About the Author

Adam Bryant is the creator of the Corner Office series at The New York Times, where he is the editorial director of live journalism.

Comment on this summary

  • Avatar
    Sign in to share your opinion
  • Avatar
    N. M. 7 years ago
    The getAbstract is short enough to consume easily yet comprehensive enough to drive home the core message. As both meeting leader and and attendee I will put to practice and evaluate to see if it makes a difference. Well done getAbstract team
  • Avatar
    J. X. 7 years ago
    "As meeting leader, when you declare your opinion before a discussion, participants can become nodding heads with no ideas of their own." Previously not like this, future to see if it's workable
  • Avatar
    j. j. 7 years ago
    loved it