While meetings may not be particularly fun, they are a necessary part of life in any organization. People don’t like meetings largely because most of them are run so badly.
The following are some telltale signs of a bad meeting:
- They start late. When you start a meeting late, you send the signal that the meeting isn’t important and neither is the time of everyone involved. Plus, no matter the reason, starting late always leaves you looking unprepared.
- There is no clear agenda. A clear, written agenda is vital to any meeting. With no agenda, no one knows what’s going to be discussed. This raises the level of stress for everyone in the room. No one likes surprises—not in this context, anyway.
- There is no direction to the discussion. Every meeting is made up of people who are more outspoken and others who are quieter. Unless there is clear direction, meetings can be dominated by the extroverted personalities in the room, while the valuable input of the introverts gets overlooked.
- They run long. We have all been to meetings that were supposed to end at a certain time but stretched later. This shows a clear disrespect for the time of everyone involved. Every person sitting in that meeting has a busy schedule. With every minute that ticks by it is likely that some of them are becoming later and later for another commitment.
When meetings are run badly, the leader comes off looking poorly prepared and disrespectful. Participants will assume the leader is disorganized, or at a minimum careless with the time, energy and commitments of others. Whether or not these perceptions are valid, none of them lends itself well to a healthy, effective organization.
Want a solution? Run your meetings Renegade style.
[bctt tweet=”Unless there is clear direction, meetings can be dominated by the extroverted personalities in the room, while the valuable input of the introverts gets overlooked.” username=”nelsonsearcy”]– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman
The above excerpt is from pgs. 115-116 of The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Time Management.
Time is your most important God-given resource no matter how hard you work, you can’t make a day last longer than twenty-four hours. By mastering a set of proven time-management principles, you can regain control of your life. It is possible to manage your time so that you can stay on top of the never-ending demands of being a pastor, nurture your congregation, spend quality time with your family, and take care of your physical and emotional needs. Become the pastor God has called you to be.
P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!
Your partner in ministry,
Nelson
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