Making Meetings Work: Achieving High Quality Group Decisions

Meetings occupy so much time, relate to so many key functions and cost so much money that improving their efficiency should be a vital issue for managers. Often humorous, this down-to-earth guide covers everything one needs to know about meetings including: agenda preparation; what happens behind the scenes before and after meetings; handling the flow of ideas and proposals; making high quality decisions; managing emotions; and dealing with conflicting values and personalities. Based on extensive studies of people who run successful meetings, this book is an excellent practical resource.

Booknews

Offers strategies for planning and conducting meetings, focusing on what sets a "good" meeting apart from a "bad" one. Presents seven principles and 14 commandments for managing meetings, and details techniques for creating agendas, managing public meetings, dealing with conflicts and emotional issues, and assigning roles. Discusses implementing TQM meetings, and looks at the negative culture of meetings and how to change it. Includes a sample agenda, minutes, and report, and a sample evaluation form. Paper edition (unseen), $18.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

John Tropman teaches at the University of Michigan in the School of Social Work, the Michigan Business School and in the Honors College. In Social Work his courses focus on Executive Leadership and Policy Development, while in the School of Business they focus on Organizational Design, Organizational Culture, Rewards Systems, and Organizational Change. He also teaches in the Executive Education Programs at Michigan and Carnegie Mellon Universities.  He has written over 20 books and many articles. John works with a number of organizations in a consultative capacity, including for profit, nonprofit and governmental entities. He assists them in strategic planning, developing effective decision systems, managing change, and providing executive training. He also works with individual executives asisting them in their own career development.