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With a hearty assent to Joe Sokohl’s comment of May 10

Leadership Freak

 

Yesterday I interviewed Robert Herbold, former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft and author of “What’s Holding You Back.” Bob’s quiet, gentlemanly tone shifted toward disdain when the topic moved to wasting time in poorly run meetings.

Frankly, it was a pleasure hearing him explain that he felt many meetings are useless religious ceremonies controlled by highly organized, meaningless ritual after meaningless ritual.

Effective structure:

I asked Bob how he ran meetings and he mentioned Bill Gates’ method of running meetings at Microsoft.

1. Have short agendas. Leave plenty of room for discussion. In general, 60% of meeting time should be left for discussion. It was surprising to me that Bob, a self-describe math geek, loves “wide open” meetings.
2. Bill G, as Bob referred to him, begins all meetings with the “low-lights.” Start with problems. Start where most people end. Bob explained that most meetings begin with the…

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