The Seven Sins of Deadly Encounters by Eric Matson Sin n. 1: People don't take meetings seriously. They come late, leave early, and spend most of their time doodling. Salvation: Adopt the mindset that meetings are real work. There are as many techniques for improving the “fizz” of meetings as there are items on a typical meeting agenda. . Some companies punish latecomers with a fine or reprimand them in the meeting minutes. But these techniques address the symptoms, not the disease. Disciplined meetings are about mindset: a shared belief among all participants that meetings are real work. That all-too-frequent expression of relief — “The meeting is over, let's get back to work” — is the mortal enemy of good meetings. “Most people simply don't consider going to meetings to be work,” says William Daniels. . “You need to make your meetings active rather than inactive.” On the wall you can have a poster with a series of simple questions about the meetings held there. Do you know the purpose of this meeting? Do you have an agenda? Do you know your role? Do you follow the rules for a good report? These posters are a visual reminder of how serious the company is about productive meetings. Sin no. 2: Meetings are too long. They should accomplish double that in half the time. Salvation: Time is money. Track the cost of your meetings and use computer-enabled concurrency to make them more productive. Almost every guru invokes the same rule: meetings should last no more than 90 minutes. When was the last time your company complied with this rule? One reason meetings drag on is that people don't realize how expensive they are. So talk about the cost of bad meetings. Because bad encounters lead to even more encounters, and over time the costs become insurmountable. Sin no. 3: People drift away from the topic. Participants spend more time rambling than discussing. Salvation: Take agendas seriously and keep distractions in a “parking lot.” It's the starting point of all the tips for productive meetings: stick to the agenda.