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    Make Meetings Matter: How to Turn Meetings from Status Updates to Remarkable Conversations
    Make Meetings Matter: How to Turn Meetings from Status Updates to Remarkable Conversations
    Make Meetings Matter: How to Turn Meetings from Status Updates to Remarkable Conversations
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    Make Meetings Matter: How to Turn Meetings from Status Updates to Remarkable Conversations

    By Paul Axtell

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    About this ebook

    Meetings should matter.

    No one wants to be called in for a meeting that could've been an email. No one wants to sit in a meeting where everyone's distracted or talking over each other. If you're going to attend or lead a meeting, don't you want it to…well, matter?

    Meetings are a chance to initiate a conversation with your teammates. You can communicate information with them that wouldn't have the same hold digitally. You can foster new relationships with your coworkers, and learn from their new ideas and perspectives.

    So why do so many people dread meetings? Because they're doing them all wrong.

    Change the way people think about meetings. Transform their opinions by holding a meeting that is efficient and productive, that is open and communicative, that is useful and important.

    Revolutionize the definition of a meeting. Learn to make them matter.

    Paul Axtell affirms the importance of meetings, and he redesigns them using the vital foundation of conversation. With real-life examples and actionable advice, he shows you how to design meetings for results, lead them to achieve agendas that move projects forward, and even allow time for building the relationships that make working together in a remarkable way possible. Based on his award winning efficiency training, this book will revolutionize the meeting—moving it from that dreaded obligation to a powerful way to get things done in business and in life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateFeb 1, 2020
    ISBN9781728229188
    Make Meetings Matter: How to Turn Meetings from Status Updates to Remarkable Conversations
    Author

    Paul Axtell

    PAUL AXTELL provides consulting and personal effectiveness training to a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies and universities to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. A large focus of his work is how to run effective and productive meetings - to turn them from the calendar items people dread into useful, productive sessions with measurable results. Paul is the author of 10 Powerful Things to Say to Your Kids, Meetings Matter: 8 Powerful Strategies for Remarkable Conversations, Make Meetings Matter (Ignite Reads), and Compassionate Leadership (Ignite Reads). Find meeting and leadership tips in Paul's blog posts>>

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      Book preview

      Make Meetings Matter - Paul Axtell

      Copyright © 2015, 2020 by Paul Axtell

      Cover and internal design © 2020 by Sourcebooks

      Cover design by Ploy Siripant

      Cover images © New Vibe/Shutterstock

      Sourcebooks, the colophon, and Simple Truths are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

      This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

      All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

      Published by Simple Truths, an imprint of Sourcebooks

      P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

      (630) 961-3900

      sourcebooks.com

      This edition is based on Meetings Matter, originally published in 2015 in the United States of America by Jackson Creek Press.

      Contents

      Front Cover

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Preface

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: Choose the Perspective: This Matters

      Chapter 2: Master Effective Conversation

      Chapter 3: Create Supportive Relationships

      Chapter 4: Decide What Matters and Who Cares

      Chapter 5: Design Each Conversation

      Chapter 6: Lead Meetings Like a Pro

      Chapter 7: Participate to Have Impact

      Chapter 8: Dealing with Ineffective Behavior in Meetings

      Conclusion

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Back Cover

      For Amy, Jesse, and Cindy.

      I wrote this book for everyone who wants to be really good, for everyone who wants their organization to be successful, and especially for those who have endured countless meetings wishing they would be better and not quite sure what to do about them.

      You and your meetings can be beyond good.

      Preface

      This book is about getting twenty people in a meeting to feel like five friends having a conversation over coffee. Not easy, but doable.

      As a manager, would it make a difference if employees looked forward to your meetings? As an individual, would it help if you knew that every meeting on your schedule this week would add momentum to your priorities and projects?

      Meetings are a competitive edge for every organization that gets them right. And for individuals, the ability to lead and participate effectively in meetings is at the heart of having influence in an organization.

      Like anything worthy of mastery, it takes patience, persistence, and practice to take your meetings from ordinary to extraordinary. But it will not take years. Choosing a single thing to focus on in your next five to ten meetings will produce immediate change. This book sets you on the right trajectory. In three months, your meetings can be dramatically different.

      Introduction

      The ability to set up a conversation, manage the conversation, and wrap it up effectively is the missing piece in meetings everywhere. While most people think passion, knowledge, and drive are all they need to succeed, through my long career in organizational management, I am here to tell you: it is your meeting skills that will set you apart. Collectively, any organization that establishes a deep capacity for excellent meetings will have an edge in execution, accomplishment, and engagement.

      Despite solutions being quite simple at their core, meetings continue to be a source of irritation and frustration—especially when people end up taking work home to make up for time lost in unproductive meetings. These are the six most common complaints:

      My boss is terrible at leading meetings.

      A few people dominate the conversations.

      The group is too large to get anything done.

      We just pass along information. We don’t talk about real issues.

      Too many people are distracted by devices.

      We don’t make progress between meetings.

      The online meeting scheduling firm Doodle found these to be the most prevalent irritants:

      Biggest Irritations in Meetings*

      9%: People taking notes on laptops

      21%: People who don’t contribute to the discussion

      24%: People eating

      46%: People who talk about nothing for long periods of time

      49%: Arriving late or leaving early

      49%: People who don’t listen to others

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