🚫 No More Boring Meetings!

Meetings are a necessary evil, but they have to be productive and efficient. Here's a definitive guide on setting a purpose and conducting a successful meeting.  [Browser View]( [Liberty Through Wealth]( Do More With Less: Ending Boring Meetings Mark Ford, Founding Member, The Oxford Club  Last month, Mark Ford wrote about the dangers of inefficient meetings and the waste they can create for your business.  Today, he explains how you can improve your meetings by setting a clear purpose and inviting the right people.  [Seniors Can Collect $480 per Week From This Unusual "Side Job"]( If you're searching for more income in today's near-zero-interest world, we've found a special kind of cash-generating "pastime" where regular folks - including you - can get the chance to rake in as much as $1,038 or more each week. It sounds crazy, I know... Yet one fellow, Dan Morgan, recently said, "The performance continues to amaze. My annual payouts now exceed $54,000." [For details, click here.](  [Mark Ford]  I was never a big fan of [meetings](. But, as the little businesses I started grew larger, I realized that meetings were absolutely necessary. With the advent of cyber employees, meetings became more necessary. Employees who are physically removed from headquarters are less likely to hear about developments casually on smoke and coffee breaks. Yes, for somebody who never really liked meetings, I've seen them start to play a huge role in my working life. Because I never liked them much, I've tried to learn as much as I can about how to improve my meetings: making them efficient, effective and necessary. Due to this research, I believe that I've learned a lot about how to run productive meetings. A while back, I saw a short article on this subject in The Wall Street Journal. The article, by Sue Shellenbarger, claims that good managers identify the purpose of meetings first. Then, they use that purpose to determine how many people need to be there. She then gives recommendations for each purpose. For the most part, I find her thoughts to be insightful and comprehensive. Her suggestions are smart and sensible. The piece includes a lot of tricks that I've learned through my own experience, as well as several that I haven't yet but will certainly try to implement. Shellenbarger's meeting categories include these four common purposes: - Weighing a problem - Making a decision - Setting the agenda - Brainstorming. Here is her advice for each, in brief, amended slightly by yours truly. Weighing a Problem (or Opportunity): 4 to 6 People Invite enough people to bring needed experience but not so many that the discussion flies off course. Some may bring technical expertise, others larger or longer-term perspectives, and one perhaps may keep the discussion on topic and moving toward a conclusion. Don't make the mistake of thinking "the more the merrier." At some point in the process, you will need to inform a large number of employees about major changes to policies or procedures, but not when you are discussing a problem or opportunity for the first time. It is worth clarifying that, although the number of people in the room is important to consider, deciding who those people are is just as vital.  [Attention: Have you heard about this audacious new movement?!]( Starting with an announcement late in the day on December 11, 2019, American investors may be in for a nasty surprise. That's when one of the most popular assets in America could suddenly be made illegal. Learn the five (easy) steps to prepare yourself now. [Click here to continue reading.]( SPONSORED  Making a Decision: 7 to 10 People Shellenbarger suggests the ideal number of people for making a decision is seven based on research by Michael Mankins. For every extra person at such a meeting, you decrease the likelihood of making a sound decision by 10%. According to Mankins, "By the time you get 17 people, the chances of your actually making a decision are zero." If you feel more people must be included, consider breaking the decision into two or three parts. Then, have seven to 10 people participate in each. While having several meetings may seem less efficient than just having one meeting with more people, Shellenbarger disputes that with confidence... In my experience, she's correct. Setting the Agenda: 5 to 15 People Some businesses - such as restaurants and other service businesses - need meetings involving large numbers of people. When the purpose is to convey an agenda and/or set priorities for the day, the meeting needn't take long. Shellenbarger makes the wise suggestion of making it a stand-up meeting and allowing only some limited time (say, two minutes) for discussion on any point. These meetings work only when the boss or some well-respected figure acts as the leader. Brainstorming: 10 to 20 People I personally prefer brainstorming sessions of three people, two of whom have to be very experienced and very smart. In [Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat](, I put it this way:  You need a minimum of three people to brainstorm. Two works better than one, but three works much better than two. The problem with two is that you often find the discussion getting into a rut. You say one thing. Your brainstorming partner says something else. You repeat your position. She repeats hers. Eventually, the conversation stalls. With three people, this seldom happens.  But there are times when you need larger groups. In such cases, you need a strong leader and a set of rules that - at the outset - discourages or eliminates debate and/or criticism, and sets a protocol for whittling down all the suggestions to a useful few. One way of doing the former is to have suggestions made anonymously and in written form. These can be made either before the meeting or during the meeting, with prompting from questions or comments. I was struck by a Harvard study that Shellenbarger shared. It debunks the commonly acted upon notion that having more people in a brainstorming session helps to create more good ideas. I have some final thoughts... As somebody who has survived a lifetime's worth of disorganized, sloppily run meetings, I can say that I concur with almost all of Shellenbarger's thoughts in this article. One can certainly have "too many cooks in the kitchen," though more important than the quantity of people is the quality. For each style of meeting, take some time to think about the roles or personalities that should be in the room. You can read Shellenbarger's full Wall Street Journal article [here](. Good investing, Mark [Leave a Comment](  [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth...&body=From%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth:%0D%0A%0D%0A Meetings%20are%20a%20necessary%20evil,%20but%20they%20have%20to%20be%20productive%20and%20efficient.%20Here's%20a%20definitive%20guide%20on%20setting%20a%20purpose%20and%20conducting%20a%20successful%20meeting.%0A%0D ?src=shared)  About Mark  Mark Morgan Ford is a founding member of The Oxford Club and lifelong practitioner of writing, teaching, entrepreneurship, martial arts and philanthropy. He has written more than two dozen books on business, entrepreneurship and wealth building (several of which were New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers). Mark's been involved in dozens of multimillion-dollar businesses and has invested in more than a hundred real estate projects and developments. He has attempted to retire four times in his career, never successfully. For more of Mark's writing on a wide range of topics, check out his blog at [MarkFord.net](.  ["This guy made me a lot of money." - Bill O'Reilly](  [Bill O'Reilly]( Bill O'Reilly says he made a lot of money thanks to one person... And now they're teaming up... With one goal in mind: to help YOU get rich. [Click here to claim your FREE wealth blueprint - before they run out.](  More From Liberty Through Wealth  [Gas Crisis]( [Why the Doom-and-Gloomers Are Always Wrong]( By Nicholas Vardy Doom-and-gloomers are always predicting the "next big crisis," from ice ages to droughts, famine to overpopulation. But have they ever gotten it right? [On the Beach]( [The "Blue Zone" of Financial Well-Being]( By Alexander Green There are several keys to happiness, and research shows that financial health can not only help you lead a rich life but also improve health and relationships. 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