How to...

[neilson at windstream.net]

Ladonna Weeks asked:

> I've always wondered if it would be effective to calculate the
> wasted person-hour cost to the company when people are late or
> absent from meetings?

Nobody wants to hear that. It just makes them feel bad. Better to
start the meeting On Time and to LOCK THE DOORS and not let any
latecomers in. (Perhaps there's some way to lock out the phone-in
people who are late?) Keep the meeting on target, touching only
the items on the published agenda. Afterwards publish notes that
reveal only highlights, so those who weren't there get a sense of
how much they missed. Mention that NEXT meeting's notes will be
distributed only to those who attend.

If such good notes cannot be written, perhaps because there was
nothing that couldn't be missed, then don't hold a meeting. Or
hold a different one instead.

The failure of the development of the Carnegie-Mellon Cheese
Transfer Protocol (CTP) thirty years ago makes it difficult to
offer food as an enticement for remote attendees.

--Peter Neilson