Let's Stop Meeting Like This

Ugh—meetings. They’re where productivity goes to die, right? There has to be a better way. According to leading consultants Dick and Emily Axelrod, there is.

Using the same principles that make video games so engaging and that transformed the numbing assembly line into the dynamic shop floor, the Axelrods outline a flexible and adaptable system used to run truly productive meetings in all kinds of organizations—meetings where people create concrete plans, accomplish tasks, build connections, and move projects forward. They show how to design every aspect of a meeting—from the way you greet people at the beginning to how you sum up at the end—so that real work actually gets done. Those who have adopted this system will never go back. Neither will you.

Dick Axelrod is a cofounder of the Axelrod Group Inc., a consulting firm that pioneered the use of employee involvement to effect large-scale organizational change. His clients include Boeing, British Airways, Chicago Public Schools, Calgary Health Authority, Coca-Cola, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Novartis, and the UK’s National Health Service.
Emily Axelrod is a cofounder of the Axelrod Group Inc., a consulting firm that pioneered the use of employee involvement to effect large-scale organizational change. Her clients include Boeing, British Airways, Chicago Public Schools, Calgary Health Authority, Coca-Cola, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Novartis, and the UK’s National Health Service.

PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 – HOW TO GET YOUR WORK DONE IN MEETINGS
CHAPTER 2 – THE MEETING CANOE
CHAPTER 3 – THE WELCOME
CHAPTER 4 – CONNECT PEOPLE TO EACH OTHER AND THE TASK
CHAPTER 5 – DISCOVER THE WAY THINGS ARE
CHAPTER 6 – ELICIT PEOPLE’S DREAMS
CHAPTER 7 – DECIDE
CHAPTER 8 – ATTEND TO THE END
CHAPTER 9 – FIRST AID FOR MEETINGS
CHAPTER 10 – MEETING BASICS: Five Steps to Meeting Success
CHAPTER 11 – LEADERS: 3 Steps to Meeting Effectiveness
CHAPTER 12 – CONTRIBUTORS: 3 Steps to Meeting Effectiveness
CHAPTER 13 – FACILITATORS: 3 Steps to Meeting Effectiveness
CHAPTER 14 – OUR HANDOFF TO YOU
A POCKET GUIDE TO LET’S STOP MEETING LIKE THIS AND MORE
Works Cited
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MEET THE AUTHORS
THE AXELROD GROUP – THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY