Staff meetings

The best strategy for keeping meetings short is to say how long they will be BEFORE they start then let people stay and ask questions after if they'd like. Seems like an hour is almost a standard meeting length regardless of the topic. A huge waste of resources if you ask me. Particularly since they are usually scheduled between 3-5 p.m. to get the day and night people together (unfortunately, this is also prime time for news sources returning phone calls) Seems like a memo all employees have to verify they've received it and read itis a better way to handle it. Have the editor do a web chat for people with questions.

 

Along these lines...
A few years ago, we had a meeting on how to schedule meetings, invite guests through Outlook Calendar.

 

I've always said that meetings keep you from getting work done. If people want to ask questions, let them stay behind and not hold everyone else hostage.

 

Meetings can be productive, just to end the endless rumor mongering and gossiping that goes in newsrooms.
My boss sends out e-mail notes just to head off the gossip, and that's pretty awesome. Keeps shit from getting stirred up.
And he'll answer direct questions.
I asked him if we were looking at buying some newspapers, hi Virginian Pilot!, and he said yes, it was being considered but wasn't likely.

 

It's been a while since I've run a staff meeting that lasted longer than 30 minutes. The way I run most of my meetings, if people have questions, they can ask them after the meeting.

When we had management meetings, our big problem wasn't one department head coming in with a shitload of questions. The problem was a publisher who would pontificate and complain about EVERYTHING. There was one time when the CEO (his wife) actually looked at me and rolled her eyes.

 

staff meetings suck in any business. i'm a lawyer and when my small firm has staff meetings they are fucking unbearable because lawyers talk about specific details of certain cases even though the rest of the staff isn't involved in these cases.

 

i'd say half the time newspaper folks spend in meetings is a waste of time.