So many meetings fail to deliver an outcome simply because they do not ask for one.

     Here’s an tactic I saw at work a while ago in a meeting chaired by someone I know well with an extensive record of getting things done.

     At the end of the agenda, he went around the table, and asked people what they would  do as a result of the discussions in the meeting.

    By observation, it achieved three outcomes:

  1.  It offered an opportunity to ensure the resulting workload is both fairly spread, and in the right place,
  2. It committed people to an outcome, as once they publicly said what they would do, it become a very strong psychological commitment to follow through,
  3. It would have exposed any who were in the meeting simply as a means of filling in time, in this case, there were none, as this was standard practice, and the bludgers had already been burnt, and moved elsewhere.
  4. Try it, I guarantee it will energise and shorten any meeting.