A summer study by Opinion Research USA, which measured the tolerance thresholds of U.S. workers at business meetings, revealed that there's no shortage of distractions or annoying meeting behaviors. Of 1,037 full- or part-time workers polled, "disorganized, rambling meetings" topped the list (27 percent). Disorganization was followed by 17 percent who said they were annoyed by peers who interrupt and try to dominate meetings.

There's a shocker. Despite the usually good-intentioned thoughts behind meetings held, the uselessness seems to be far disproportionate to the frequency of their taking place.

A study last year reported that the employees who are most frustrated by frequent meetings are those who are also better employees — task-focused, goal-focused and striving toward accomplishment — whereas those who like meetings are typically workers who are less driven to finish the job at hand, as meetings give them something to do other than their actual work.

Simply put, the report found that meetings deter productive people from being productive.

That's not even including ad hoc meetings — when someone stops by unannounced to discuss… whatever they're discussing. Spur-of-the-moment meetings waste time, especially if they're during your prime productive-work time.

Business incubator Gaebler Ventures offers this suggestion:

When co-workers, bosses or employees pop into your office unexpectedly, explain that you're in the middle of an important project and politely ask if you can call or e-mail them later to schedule a meeting. Then when your prime work period is over for the day or you've finished your project, follow-up with them and set a meeting time that works well for everyone.

Rather than encourage or even allow employees to drop by to ask questions, Gaebler suggests scheduling meetings with them — as needed.

"Most of the time, a meeting could have been accomplished with an e-mail or a phone call," notes Leo Babuata, of ZenHabits.net, at Dumb Little Man: Tips for Life.

Indeed, meetings are not always necessary. If the same information can be covered in an e-mail, memo or brief report, avoid the meeting altogether.

"One of the keys to having more effective meetings is differentiating between the need for one-way information dissemination and two-way information sharing," according to EffectiveMeetings.com.

But sometimes meetings are necessary. If this is the case, here are some basic guidelines to make the meeting mean something:

Set Objectives
"One benefit of setting objectives for the meeting is to help you plan the meeting. The more concrete your meeting objectives, the more focused your agenda will be," according to EffectiveMeetings.com.

Stick to those Objectives
Be efficient. A key to this is to have a written agenda, which should include the following: 1) a brief description of the meeting objectives; 2) a list of topics for discussion; 3) a specified presenter or discussion leader for each topic; and 4) the time allotment for each topic (and for the meeting as a whole).

Assign Action Items
Don't conclude any discussion in the meeting without deciding how to act upon it. This saves the group from having to have another meeting later on how to act on the previous meeting's discussion. "Listen for key comments that flag potential action items, and don't let them pass by without addressing them during your meeting," suggests EffectiveMeetings.com.

Document
Meeting notes should be recorded and made part of the company's meeting information archives. Any decisions made by the group should also be documented, as should assigned action items. Moreover, the host (or an appropriate participant) should be appointed to follow up on the completion of all action items.

Examine Your Meeting Process
Meeting effectiveness must be reviewed at the end of each meeting and suggested improvements applied to the next meeting. Assign the last few minutes of every meeting as time to review the following questions: What worked well in this meeting? What can we do to improve our next meeting? Answers to the second question should be phrased in the form of a suggested action.

Watch the Watch
Finally, perhaps the most basic way of equalizing the time during a meeting is to be aware of the time. Meetings should start precisely on time so as not to punish those who are punctual. This also sets the stage for how serious you are about making the meeting effective. Time allotment is established in the aforementioned agenda.

Or, for a dogmatic approach, follow Harvard Business Review's handy 10 Commandments of Meetings:

I. Thou Shalt Always Know What Time It Is
II. Thou Shalt Not Forget the Main Reason for Meetings
III. Thou Shalt Remember the Golden Rule of Meetings — Praise in Public, Criticize in Private
IV. Thou Shalt Not Convene Meetings Outside of Normal Business Hours
V. Thou Shalt Not Use Group Pressure to Logroll Conclusions
VI. Thou Shalt Not Use Meetings to Destroy Others' Careers
VII. Thou Shalt Keep the Personal and the Corporate Distinct
VIII. Thou Shalt Remember that the Best Model for Meetings Is Democracy, Not Monarchy
IX. Thou Shalt Always Prepare a Clear Agenda and Circulate It Beforehand
X. Thou Shalt Terminate a Regularly Scheduled Meeting When Its Purpose for Being No Longer Exists

The productive among us don't like our time wasted. So if a meeting is necessary, rather than scheduling and carrying out one that accomplishes nothing, make the meeting matter.

Earlier: 'Let's Have More Meetings! Who Wants to Be Productive, Anyhow?'

References

Ouch Point
Opinion Research USA, May 9, 2007

Meeting Basics
EffectiveMeetings.com

6 Tips for More Effective Meetings
EffectiveMeetings.com

10 Commandments of Meetings
Harvard Business Review, Nov. 1, 1999

Hack Your Work: 23 Ways to Get Ahead, Work Less and Achieve More
by Leo Babauta
DumbLittleMan.com, June 2007

How to Be More Efficient
Gaebler Ventures