Tips to tackle your next meeting head on

There are plenty of things people love to hate about meetings: They’re too long and too frequent; certain people dominate the conversation and other people don’t pay attention; and nothing gets done. Take charge of your next meeting by following these steps:

• Make the most of your meeting by creating an agenda and distributing it beforehand.

• Ask people to set aside their phones when the meeting starts to avoid distractions.

• Send a post-meeting summary to keep everyone in the loop.

• Designate responsibilities for agenda items.

• Follow up with everyone to make sure tasks are completed before the next meeting.

– Dominique Becnel, The New Orleans 100