GROUNDHOG DAY - WHY ARE MEETINGS SO BAD?

by Andy Pattantyus

In the movie Groundhog Day, the main
character Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray)
finds himself caught in a special kind of hell as
he wakes up each morning to find it is
Groundhog Day all over again. Many of us have
to attend the same horrible meeting, week after
week, trapped in our own version of Groundhog
Day hell.

What is a “Groundhog Day Meeting”? We
intuitively know because at various times we
have all attended really bad meetings. Such
meetings have the following characteristics:
• The decision makers were absent.
• Wrong people were in the room.
• Everyone came unprepared.
• Nothing was accomplished at the meeting.

Some hints that your meeting is dysfunctional:
• Repeating the same meeting every week.
• You left the meeting feeling frustrated.
• You are unclear about your action items.
• Nothing happened between meetings.

Why ineffective managers call meetings:
• We have a “crisis” and need action.
• Make others feel the heat.
• Don’t know what else to do.

Bad meetings are so common they seem like an
almost essential part of the human condition.
Why are so many meetings so bad? Why do we
suffer and put up with it?

“Life is a meeting”. When two or more people
get together, we have a meeting. Given the
importance of meetings in our lives, it is
remarkable how few people have received
professional training in meeting skills. Our
meetings are bad because we don’t know the
simple rules of how to run them professionally.

In future issues of this newsletter, you will find out how to:
• Plan and prepare for a meeting.
• Avoid going to bad meetings.
• Hold other people accountable.
• Keep track of decisions, issues and actions.
• Use rules, roles and tools to run meetings.

If you have an immediate need to take control of your meetings and recapture your valuable time, then contact Strategic Modularity Inc. at 661-312-5898 or info@strategicmodularity.com for a free sample copy of the booklet entitled "How to Avoid Groundhog Day by Improving Your Meeting Skills".

Strategic Modularity is a proud member of The ACA Group www.theacagroup.com which is dedicated to improving processes in industry. Recurring meetings require a process to keep the information straight and to assure accountability.

Copyright (c) 2007 Strategic Modularity Inc.