Comments on: How To Run A Useful Meeting

By: Matt Zimmerman

Matt Zimmerman — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:34:10 +0000

We often use Google Docs for taking notes during meetings, because it’s easy for everyone to participate and follow along. I’ve been meaning to try EtherPad for this purpose, but haven’t got around to deploying it yet.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:27:38 +0000

Being on the opposite end of things — a developer that has his fingers in many pies — I get invited to a lot of meetings. Coding meetings, status meetings, policy meetings, coordination meetings with other programs, etc. For me, it is vitally important to choose which I really need to attend.

Most of the organizers don’t send out agendas ahead of time. Many get a little crazy when it comes to the distribution lists. While it burns a little bit of time to have to determine whether I’ve got anything to contribute, it’s far better to spend time to figure it out than to attempt to attend all of them.

In general, unless there’s an emergency, I don’t do last-minute meetings… they screw with my flow too much.

By: Geoffrey Thomas

Geoffrey Thomas — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:17:03 +0000

Since you mentioned SubEthaEdit, I just wanted to mention that one of my student groups has found running meetings over EtherPad (although etherpad.com closed its doors, I encouraged a friend to set up etherpad.mit.edu) _and_ Skype useful for having a traditional in-person meeting over winter/summer break when half of us aren’t on campus. We put up the agenda in the EtherPad and have a designated secretary fill in under the agenda, but since most people in person and everyone remote has their laptops out, people can follow along even if Skype cuts out.

By: Adam Fletcher

Adam Fletcher — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:31:14 +0000

@Brad – there’s always exceptions, and brainstorming is a good one to point out. Thanks!

@Pete – I tried to address the organizer not having time to take notes in the parenthetical, but I probably need to make that more clear. Thanks!

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:59:57 +0000

I would amend “You set up the meeting, you have to take the notes” to “You set up the meeting, you have to ensure that notes are taken.”

I agree that meeting notes are critical, and most of the time, it’s fine for the meeting organizer to be the person responsible for taking them. However, I have run into situations where, as meeting organizer, I find that all of my attention has to be on facilitating the discussion, and in these cases, it’s helpful to have someone else in charge of notes.

By: Brad Murphy

Brad Murphy — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:37:17 +0000

Great post. I tend to agree with your comments on agendas, however I am also a huge fan of brainstorming sessions. No agendas, no egos, no formality. There is a problem and a bunch of smart people and we want to hear every possible solution, even the crazy ones. Lots of cool things come out of these meetings.