One of my friends bought me a notepad recently which ie entitled “Things I Can’t Say Out Loud In Meetings“.

Whilst it’s a normal lined notepad it has, at the bottom of every other page, something you could say in meetings.

You know those meetings which drag on.  

Which have no clear agenda.  

Where the person running it allows everything to over run or the loudest voices to suck all the airtime?

I’m sure you, like me, have been trapped in plenty of them.

Here are a few of the things, according to the notepad, you could say…

• What a surprise, the meeting has overrun, yet again!
• Let me check if I care.  Nope.  Nothing… 🤔
• Who in their right mind organises a meeting at this time of day?
• I’m glad no one can read my mind right now
• They should make going off at a tangent a sackable offence 

By virtue of a notepad like this existing, it tells us a few things.

We’re not alone.  

So many sloppy meetings suck precious time and energy.  

People resent being ‘stuck’ in a meeting which doesn’t have structure or tangible outcomes, for want of a better word.

Key things to remember when you’re running a meeting.

• Keep a firm eye on the time 👀.  Literally have a clock near you.
• Ensure the conversation isn’t just one way or those with the loudest voice.
• Set the Agenda up front either before the meeting or before you start it.  What do we want to come away with?  What’s it for?
• Rather than run over time, have another meeting, another time.
• Avoid rambling or ramblers by circling back to the point.  “I hear you John and we’re here to XYZ so let’s note this AND keep ourselves focussed on XYZ today” 

I’m prepping to host a gathering of clients next week at a smart location in London.

It will be anything but a rambling, unstructured, boring zone.  It’s in the planning and the intention.  My intention being it will be interesting, structured, thought-provoking and welcoming.  I’ll report back afterwards!

Or in someone else’s words…

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And in other news…

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Snowy and I had a mini-break in London last week.  We stayed at our Club, the Royal Automobile Club (Snowy’s love of all things motoring dictated our joining back in the day) and we had a wander around Piccadilly before dinner (below…how much glitter can you get into a room?)  and an overnight stay.  Whilst it was only a night, it was relaxing, good to be away together, to dress up a bit and to be in the West End again…just for a night!