My Rules for Engagement....

OK - I've been through so many meetings lately, that I feel the need to lay out my new rules of engagement. I would love to say that if you want to engage with me in a business setting, you must comply!!! The reality is that I'm pretty much a peon.

Obviously, I spend way too much time in meetings. But since I've started facilitating and moderating as part of my job, I no longer have tolerance for painful meetings. When it's not my meeting, it's very hard for me not to say "OK - we're going in circles here, let's move on PEEPS"! I refrain (most of the time), but here is my wish list....

Take Note:

Rule #1 - After something has been stated 3 times, it's time to put it to rest.

Rule #2 - Speak only if you have something valuable to add to the conversation. You may agree with someone only if noone else has agreed with them. After that, you're speaking only to hear yourself speak.

Rule #3 - Agenda's are our friends!

Rule #4 - If only 3 people are talking during a meeting, the other 17 people probably should not have been invited.

Rule #5 - Meetings should last a maximum of 77 minutes! I swear to you that I read that 77 minutes is the most amount of time any reasonable person can stay engaged. Granted, I don't think I'm reasonable, since I tend to start losing it at 27 3/4 minutes.

Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest. Now, if I could only set out to change the world, or my company, or maybe my work group, or I suppose I could just start with the people that sit in my cube (me and the weird looking caricature of me someone drew).

Tata - K