University of Maine Division of Student Affairs

Time Management: LESSON 9

TIME Management For Students In Organizations

Time Fact #9

The average person spends 500 to 1,000 hours in a car. This is the equivalent to 12 1/2 to 25 40 hour work weeks that can be devoted to professional development. Perhaps you could occasionally listen to the tape of an important meeting you could not attend.

Managing TIMEly Meetings - PART 1

More than 11 MILLION business meetings take place in the United States every day. Some have suggested that half the time spent in meetings is wasted. Here are some ways to make meetings more productive.

Double preparation time and cut meeting time in half
Get the problems as clearly in mind as you can and put them in writing. Work up every possible solution you can for each of them. Give people assignments to locate information that will be valuable at the meeting.
Always use a written agenda
Have extra agendas to pass out at the meeting or put the agenda on a chalkboard or washable wallboard before people arrive. For informal meetings, it works well to formulate an agenda with whomever is present as the meeting begins. Putting non controversial items early on the agenda can get people working as a group. You might try placing controversial items just before the break to allow participants to work things out on a one-to- one basis before the meeting reconvenes.
Don't "punish" people who arrive on time by making them wait for late-comers
Nor should you back up to review what late-comers have missed.
Surveys show that meetings which last less than an hour are more productive than those which last longer
Example: One organization requires that when a meeting does last more than n hour the person who called the meeting must submit a written report to his/her supervisor explaining why the meeting ran overtime and how the extra time was well-spent.
Meetings do not have to be 60 minutes in length
Consider starting meetings on the half hour, even the quarter hour. Meetings tend to end on the hour; starting a meeting into the hour makes it naturally shorter.
Also consider late luncheon meetings
The agenda will move along quickly as participants feel the afternoon slipping by.
Another idea worth considering is setting the meeting time one hour before lunch or quitting time
Hold regularly scheduled meetings only if agenda supports them
Pass information to others in writing rather than in meetings
Put information in as few words as possible and distribute it in a memo. It is much faster to read a short memo than attend a long-winded meeting.

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