I'm on a committee that meets once a month using chat software – we're scattered across Australia so face-to-face meetings aren't practical on a monthly basis, though we do try and do a face-to-face once a year. When I first joined the committee a few years ago, I thought that it was the chat software that made the 'conversations' so rambling… Then I went to the first face-to-face meeting 2 years ago and realised that it was the PEOPLE not the medium. And last year's face-to-face meeting only served to cement that view… and tonight's meeting also. <sigh> Lovely people, all of them, but rambling meetings…
Rhonda Bracey: At Random
My quilting life, plus random life stuff
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 
This reminds me of the meetings I had at my former job. I liked most of the people I worked with, but never did I see a group of people so adept at turning a 20-minute conversation into an hour-long meeting.
This made me think of another blog posting I saw awhile back, so I went digging for it. The title of the post is “Most Meetings Stink: 5 Tips For Making Yours Useful”.
http://www.worthwhilemag.com/entry/2005/12/19/most_meetings_stink5_tips_for_making_yours_useful.php
I personally think it should be printed out and anonymously dropped into the mail slots of every manager and employee out there.
And while we’re at it, here’s a piece on conference calls: “The Deadly Sins of Conference Calls”.
http://www.worthwhilemag.com/entry/2006/03/08/the_deadly_sins_of_conference_calls.php
I’ll pipe down now.
Can you tell you hit a nerve?
I suspect that most meetings have ‘doers’ and ‘talkers’. The doers want to look at the facts, make some decisions and get on with things. The talkers don’t want to offend anyone, want to consider ALL of the angles and don’t want the blame if things don’t work out. They also feel that their main contribution is showing up and being part of the discussion. Which is probably why doers tend to leave big businesses and run their own. Or maybe I’m all talk?