[Jeffrey Phillips, via Matt Homann]: Just in Time Meeting Attendance:
Rather than show up for a meeting and sit through the entire thing,
demand that the meeting have an agenda and that the facilitator or
leader of the meeting stick as closely to the agenda as possible. When
the parts of the meeting you need or want to attend are complete, get
up and leave.
Matt
calls this a brilliant idea, and I’m inclined to agree. This will be
perfect for one client in particular, where the culture
has people call meetings with starting times, but no ending times!
Ending times are a requirement, IMHO — as are intended results;
otherwise it’s a discussion, not a meeting. Not that there’s anything
wrong with that, but it’s a very different thing (and often not very
respectful of people’s time). It’s always worth knowing what you’re
getting into, so you can decide whether to get into it or not.