Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Understanding the Role of Meeting in Business 5 Chapter 1: Making Meetings More Effective 7 Understanding Why Meetings are Important 8 Discovering Why Better Meetings Benefit Everyone 10 Knowing What Kind of Meetings this Book is About 11 The small group meeting 12 The most common meeting types 12 Discovering Why Meetings are So Complex 14 COVID-19: Disrupting the way we meet 15 Learning about new ways to meet 15 Acknowledging the growing role of technology 16 Running an Effective Group or Team 17 Chapter 2: Matching the Meeting Style with the Meeting Goal 19 Picking a Meeting Communication Style 20 Identifying the main structures of meeting communication 21 Choosing the right communication structure 24 Managing the Meeting''s Formality 24 Choosing the right level of meeting formality 25 Planning for collaboration 26 Meshing with Meeting Culture Norms in Your Company 27 Understanding communication, participation, and efficiency patterns 28 Recognizing and developing your team''s meeting culture 30 Chapter 3: Understanding the Full Meeting Continuum 33 Being the Architect of Your Meeting Design 34 Designing for before the meeting 35 Designing for during the meeting 36 Facilitating a Productive Discussion 38 Building a process for turn taking 38 Setting ground rules for participation 40 Holding People (Including Yourself) Accountable 41 Defining expectations and consequences 42 Letting follow-up and action items drive the business 44 Chapter 4: Choosing How You Should Meet 45 Picking the Best Meeting Format 46 Meeting in-person 46 Meeting virtually 49 Meeting in a hybrid environment 51 Choosing the Meeting Space 53 Selecting the physical room 53 Setting up the virtual space 56 Timing it Right 57 Right-sizing the meeting duration 57 Building in buffers between meetings 58 Chapter 5: Using Video in Virtual or Hybrid Meetings 59 Understanding the Value of Video When Meeting 60 Creating a richer meeting experience 61 Keeping people from multi-tasking 62 Recognizing the Potential for Video Overload 63 Diagnosing the downside of being on camera 64 Using video when it matters most 67 Setting a Video Policy for Your Team 68 Determining the video culture of your organization 69 Deciding on the video culture of your team 70 Chapter 6: Meeting with Global Participants 73 Understanding Cultural Expectations 75 Recognizing norms about lateness 76 Maintaining cultural diversity in behavior 78 Allowing for cultural tolerance of silence 79 Taking the Setting into Account 81 Avoiding the time zone tragedy 82 Normalizing differences in environment 83 Allowing for differences in video use 84 Part 2: Setting Up for Success -- What to do Before a Meeting 87 Chapter 7: Determining if You Even Need a Meeting 89 Knowing What Should be a Meeting 90 Meeting with purpose 91 Meeting for collaboration 92 Knowing What Shouldn''t be a Meeting 92 Socializing without aims 93 Informing without deciding 93 Chapter 8: Designing the Meeting to Match Your Goals 95 Choosing Your Format 96 Adjusting for internal or external participants 98 Recognizing different geographic locations 99 Minding time zone differences 100 Creating a Comfortable Meeting Space 102 Enhancing your face-to-face environment 104 Ensuring an effective virtual space 104 Scheduling the Meeting 112 Inviting the right people 112 Accounting for attendees'' schedules 113 Picking a suitable meeting length 114 Chapter 9: Setting Meeting Expectations 117 Drafting an Agenda 118 Clarifying the meeting goal or purpose 118 Rightsizing the list of agenda items 122 Sharing your agenda beforehand for attendees to review 123 Soliciting feedback and adjusting your agenda 124 Leaning into Pre-Work 124 Assigning work before the meeting 125 Determining the right amount of pre-work 126 Laying out Participation Ground Rules 129 Establishing participation expectations 130 Calling on individuals in the meeting 135 Part 3: Facilitating an Effective Meeting -- What to do During a Meeting 141 Chapter 10: Starting a Meeting 143 Setting the Tone Just Before the Meeting 145 Arriving before the meeting start time 146 Making sure meeting technology is functional 149 Engaging in pre-meeting talk 153 Getting Off to a Good Start 158 Starting the meeting on time 158 Clarifying meeting purpose or goal 159 Assigning an attendee to record notes (meeting minutes) 160 Reiterating participation ground rules 160 Chapter 11: Managing the Conversation Flow 167 Keeping the Meeting on Track 168 Sticking to the agenda 169 Monitoring time spent on each topic 170 Using Communication Strategies to Drive Productive Dialogue 172 Understanding procedural communication 172 Making the right statements 174 Transitioning between topics 175 Driving Discussion 176 Listen actively 178 Paraphrasing comments and repeating questions 179 Probing for deeper dialogue 180 Managing a Brainstorming Session 181 When in person 182 When virtual 182 When hybrid 183 Leading Discussion Until Moment of Decision 184 Chapter 12: Pulling Out Even Participation 185 Ensuring Everyone''s Voice is Heard 186 When in person 188 When virtual 189 When hybrid 190 Validating Both Verbal and Nonverbal Participation 191 When in person 192 When virtual 193 When hybrid 194 Enlisting the Help of Others to Encourage Participation 195 When in person 196 When virtual 196 When hybrid 198 Chapter 13: Delivering Your Messages Effectively 201 Simplifying Your Content 202 Analyzing your audience 203 Structuring your message 204 Making your messages memorable 210 Speaking With Impact 213 Using vocal variety to keep attendees'' attention 213 Minding your body language 217 Using Visual Aids 220 Creating complementary slides 220 Interacting with visual aids 221 Engaging in Humor During Your Meetings 225 Encouraging affiliative humor 227 Squelching aggressive humor 227 Chapter 14: Stifling Bad Meeting Behaviors 229 Intervening When Dysfunctional Communication Occurs 231 Identifying bad meeting behaviors 232 Stopping bad behavior without derailing the meeting 234 Keeping Counterproductive Meeting Behaviors At Bay 236 Using good meeting behavior to edge out bad behavior 237 Rewarding good behavior and reining in bad behavior 239 Part 4: Making a Meeting Worthwhile -- What to do after a Meeting 241 Chapter 15: Following Up Effectively 243 Creating and Recording an Action Plan 244 Summarizing decisions made 245 Listing action items 245 Delegating responsibilities 246 Making the Meeting Materials Accessible 247 Determining where to store meeting information 248 Sending out minutes 249 Being Available for Quick Clarification 249 Holding a brief follow up 250 Thinking about one-on-ones 252 Chapter 16: Evaluating Your Meeting Effectiveness 253 Soliciting Feedback 254 Creating a process for gathering feedback 255 Choosing what to measure 257 Using the Feedback 260 Sharing the results 261 Implementing changes based on feedback 261 Part 5: The Part of Tens 263 Chapter 17: Ten Things to Say to Move a Meeting Along 265 Killing Them with Kindness and Moving On 266 Rephrasing for Clarity 266 Closing the Door 267 Creating Order out of Chaos 267 Naming the Elephant in the Room 268 Being a Timekeeper 268 Protecting the Wellness of Your Team 268 Scheduling a New Conversation 269 Putting it in the Parking Lot 269 Using Team Code Words 270 Chapter 18: Ten Alternatives to Meeting in a Conference Room 271 Standing in the Conference Room 272 Gathering Around the Water Cooler 272 Meeting in Someone''s Office 273 Doing an Offsite, Onsite 273 Taking it Outside 273 Walking and Talking 274 Heading to a Coffee Shop 274 Going to a Restaurant 275 Holding a Virtual Reality Meeting 275 Heading Down to the Railroad Tracks 276 Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Bolster Participation 277 Assigning Agenda Items to Other Attendees 277 Setting and Sticking to Ground Rules 278 Making Multitasking a No-no 278 Getting People to do Stuff Regularly 279 Reading the Room 280 Cold Calling with Good Intention 280 Fostering a Speak-up Environment 281 Using Chat 281 Encouraging Webcam Use for All Remote Atten.