The following advice is also useful for managers holding meetings:

Create diverse meeting styles

Many meetings have a routine format and style that bores participants, jeopardizes efficiency and stunts creativity.

Managers should call meetings only on significant issues and present them in fresh ways to get attention and involvement from participants.

They should know how to use time efficiently listen to reports, collect information for the next meeting, as long as it does not compromise the effectiveness of the meeting.

Find the best meeting time

The best time for meetings is from 11am to 1pm. Efficiency falls in other time slots. Managers should try to hold meetings in this time slot to get the best attention and involvement of participants.

People are still thinking about what happened last night or on their way to office during morning meetings. And in late afternoon, people are tired of work, so efficiency falls.

Don't hide away in the office

Many bosses want to run companies and give orders from their offices, but an efficient manager doesn't stay in their spacious and cozy office, but makes on-site investigations to solve problems.

The annual review of employees' performance is the most important meeting for managers. At this meeting, employees should be rated and given clear goals for the next year. But more importantly, managers must communicate their expectations.

Execution is more important than the meeting itself.

Consideration of the solutions that participants will accept is not good meeting preparation.

It is better to find the right solution and then make compromises, so that people accept and act on the decisions.

Managers need to verify the effectiveness of decisions with reports and data. But more importantly, on-site investigation is needed to find the correct information.

Managers should control meetings, rather than being controlled

Managers attend many meetings every day. Sometimes they become controlled by meetings and their agendas are arranged around meetings, rather than work.

So it is important to take control in meetings.

Important issues or tasks can be combined at one meeting, or representatives can be sent to less important meetings or they can be postponed.

The author is general manager of Western Management Consulting Co Ltd

(China Daily 04/11/2007 page15)