There are indeed many ways of wasting people’s time, but running a meeting badly is possibly the worst.

UK meetings generally start promptly so people arrive a few minutes before to settle.  The chairman should of course be there sooner to ensure everything is in order – including equipment and refreshments.  A conference room attached to your virtual office will have all this arranged.

All participants should make sure that they are free from interruptions by arranging for the virtual office staff to take their calls.

For a meeting called to brainstorm a subject people will expect a general and free exchange of ideas – ranging from bizarre to practical.  The agenda will be loose and a general creative approach encouraged.

However, for a meeting with the aim of reaching a decision and choosing between various options, the participants will expect more advance preparation.  With this done, it will be much easier and quicker to make judgements on the various courses of action and eventually make a choice.

The worst meeting is one which should be reaching a decision but no-one has been given sufficient information in advance and the chairman starts off by attempting to pull ideas together.  This will guarantee that various members will switch off at best, or become destructive and argumentative at worst.

To save time, therefore, and get the best out of people:

•    Send out a clear agenda showing the topics for discussion, expected outcomes and preparation needed
•    Make sure the room is fit for purpose
•    Arrive promptly  – and instil this culture in others
•    Stay focussed on the agenda