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# The Lucid Meetings Blog

We make it easy to run successful meetings every day.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [3+ Ways to Approach Strategic Planning](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-ways-to-approach-strategic-planning/) - As 2020 continues to teach us all how much God enjoys a good laugh at our plans, we've noticed a dramatic uptick in the number of people downloading strategic planning meeting templates. Strategic planning isn't a type of meeting. It's a process, and there are many ways you can approach that process. We have several
- [The Meeting Performance Maturity Model (and How to Measure Yours)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meeting-performance-maturity-model/) - Update September 2018 This blog post introduced the Meeting Performance Maturity Model (MPMM) for the first time. The latest published version of the MPMM can be found here. Learning to run a meeting well is a worthy accomplishment. In successful meetings, teams unite and work takes flight. When all goes well, that is. Run poorly,
- [Intervention, Implementation, or Iteration: What do your meetings need now?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/intervention-implementation-or-iteration-what-do-your-meetings-need-now/) - Did you know that the first stop sign was installed in 1915? Before that, there wasn't much need. Horses rarely ran into each other, and most people traveled by foot. There were no speed limits, no lane markings, no directional signage, and few street name signs. Traffic control was not a thing. The first stop
- [Want Better Meetings? Put the Purpose in the Name](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/rename-your-meetings-with-purpose/) - You don't necessarily need an agenda to have a great meeting. I'm pretty sure you knew that already. I'm guessing you've attended many useful and interesting meetings that lacked an agenda. I bet that when someone tells you "No agenda, no attenda!" you feel chastened, but also a bit annoyed by this demand for what
- [The 16 Types of Business Meetings (and Why They Matter)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/16-types-of-business-meetings/) - There is SO MUCH advice out there about how to run meetings, and most of it is just useless. It’s not that the advice is wrong, per se. It’s just not specific enough. Contents Introduction Background: The thinking behind the taxonomy The 16 Types of Business Meetings Cadence Meetings Catalyst Meetings Meetings to Evaluate and
- [Want to Connect With Your Team? Break Out a Deck of Cards](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/want-to-connect-with-your-team-break-out-a-deck-of-cards/) - Using conversational card decks can quickly create bonds between team members and combat loneliness.
- [The Leader's Guide for Making Decisions in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/making-decisions-in-meetings/) - I used to believe that everything was a choice. Whether I ate healthy food or not: a choice. Whether I obsessed over past slights or whether I forgave and moved on: a choice. I believed every action I took, and every action everyone takes, began with a decision to act. I believed this choosing applied to
- [The Anatomy of Meeting Notes That People Will Use](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-anatomy-of-meeting-notes-that-people-will-use/) - (Tip: Be sure not to miss the downloadable business meeting notes template at the end of the story) Return Leverage, one of Lucid’s Enterprise clients, found our downloadable meeting notes to be less helpful than they’d hoped. Toby Lucich from Return Leverage asked if we could improve the exports to help make it easier for busy professionals to read the meeting
- [Measuring the Cost and Value of Meetings: Part II - The Cost of People's Time](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/measuring-the-cost-and-value-of-meetings-part-ii-the-cost-of-peoples-time/) - Example:10 people with an average burdened rate of $100/hr attend a 1-hour meeting. The organization pays $1000 for those people to attend the meeting. Why Most Companies Don't Measure This Cost This calculation quickly and easily shows the enormous sums an organization spends paying people to sit in meetings over the course of a typical
- [The Real-Time Agenda Technique](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/real-time-agenda/) - I was enjoying lunch at a technology conference with a group of CTOs from high-powered companies when the conversation turned from blockchain to meetings. It’s funny how that always happens. First, we heard about the awful meetings held at a large manufacturing company. Then, it was the CTO for an NFL team's turn. “My team
- [Short and Sweet: 4 Ways to Condense Meeting Time](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/short-and-sweet-4-ways-to-condense-meeting-time/) - Most teams have to meet to keep work moving ahead, but that doesn't mean you should spend all day in there.
- [Maximizing Time: Strategies for Scheduling Meetings with Respect](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/maximizing-time-strategies-for-scheduling-meetings-with-respect/) - Employee engagement surveys show that unproductive meetings drive employees away. These tips will help you reverse that trend.
- [The Time-Saver's Handbook: 3 Rules for Efficient Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-time-savers-handbook-3-rules-for-efficient-meetings/) - We need meetings, but if there are too many, productivity and morale suffer. These rules prevent those problems.
- [How to Identify and Eliminate Meetings That Waste Your Team's Time](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-identify-and-eliminate-meetings-that-waste-your-teams-time/) - In previous articles, we explored ways to determine the best-fit meeting cadence for your team. An effective meeting cadence means your team is talking often enough to maintain momentum and build solid working relationships, but not so often that they have trouble completing other work. Looking at the many examples provided in these articles, I
- [Communicating in Real Time, Near Time, and Far Time](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/communicating-real-time-near-time-far-time/) - Information flow in organizations is akin to the flow of water in the natural world. When designing your information architecture, it's import to consider how your information needs will change over time. This story about my dog illustrates why.
- [It's Time to Talk About Your Meetings. Here's How to Get Started.](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/its-time-to-talk-to-your-team-about-your-meetings-heres-how-to-get-started/) - "How can we reduce the time we're spending in meetings?" I used to love it when clients asked me this, because wow - what a softball! This is easy math. To reduce time wasted in unproductive meetings, you can: Cancel meetings. Look for any meeting that lacks a clear purpose or goals, and get rid
- [Time Management is a Perversion](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/time-management-is-a-perversion/) - Two people sit mostly naked in the snow, breathing deeply. They remain quiet and still for a long time. At least it feels like a long time to one of them. The other – a more advanced student – rests in comfortable contemplation, focusing deeply on sending healing energy throughout his body. The first one
- [Should you cancel your next meeting?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/should-you-cancel-your-next-meeting/) - There’s a meeting on your calendar that’s fast approaching, but you’re just not sure about it. Maybe you’re too busy. Maybe your co-workers are too busy. Maybe you see it as an interruption that will keep you from more important work. Or maybe the meeting is really important, but you’re simply not ready. Whatever the
- [A Process for Navigating Your Company's Changing Way of Working](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-process-for-navigating-your-companys-return-to-work/) - I've been thinking a lot about how some teams are designed to operate with uncertainty, but most are not. The teams that operate in uncertain conditions never know what they'll face when they show up to work. Firefighters, athletes, investigators: they can't plan what will happen each day. Instead, they develop skills for performing in
- [The 3 Root Causes of Chronically Bad Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-3-root-causes-of-chronically-bad-meetings/) - Now, I'm curious: have you noticed that a growing number of companies are trying to solve their crushing meeting load by canceling them? All of them. For some, this intervention provides a much-needed break and the time they needed to redesign a more thoughtful approach. See the HBR article Meeting Overload is a Fixable Problem by Rebecca
- [Leading Successful All-Hands Meetings: Avoid Common Mistakes and Advance Your Mission](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/all-hands-meetings-avoid-common-mistakes-to-successfully-connect-employees-with-your-mission/) - Learn to avoid 6 common mistakes your employees hate, and four ways to run all staff meetings people love. Includes case study examples,
- [A Framework for Designing World-Class Team Cadence and Progress Check Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/framework-for-designing-world-class-team-cadence-and-progress-check-meetings/) - Want to quickly make an enormous impact on the meetings in your organization? Roll out an effective strategy for your Team Cadence and Progress Check meetings. Too much time wasted in unproductive meetings. Meeting overload. Zoom fatigue. Article after article decries the plague of too many meetings gobbling up our time. Looking for data about
- [Reject the Hype and Fix Your Bad Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/reject-the-hype-and-fix-your-bad-meetings/) - The Hype: Meetings Waste People’s Time and Money Have you seen the studies about the state of meetings in the workplace today? If not, here’s a sampling: An estimated 36 to 55 million meetings occur in the USA each day and billions are lost annually thanks to unproductive meetings.1 David Coleman estimated that 25% of that time wasted.2
- [How to Find the Most Productive Meeting Schedule for a Team Like Yours](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-find-the-most-productive-meeting-schedule-for-a-team-like-yours/) - Too much time wasted in unproductive meetings. This remains a top contender on the list of workplace complaints, as it has been for at least 700 years. Some folks wrestling with this complaint assume that the solution is to simply reduce the amount of time spent in meetings, ideally through the elimination of as many
- [Battle Axes to Boardrooms: A Discussion with Wilbert Van Vree](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/battle-axes-to-boardrooms-wilbert-van-vree/) - Meetings, Manners, and Civilization: The Development of Modern Meeting Behaviour, written by sociologist and meeting expert Wilbert Van Vree, was originally published in 1999, but I just finished it this March. Of the five meeting books I read this spring, this was by far the most thought-provoking, so I asked Dr. Van Vree if he'd
- [How To Increase Participation When You've Got Too Many People In Your Online Meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/when-more-isnt-merrier-why-you-may-be-inviting-too-many-people-to-your-online-event/) - “The more, the merrier in meetings. You can now have up to 250 participants! … Just right for that quarterly all-hands get-together.” The announcement from a leading video conference system supplier made my heart sink. NO! That's NOT just right. Thanks to the magic of videoconferencing, you can instantly talk at all your people, all
- [How Your Meeting Room Setup Influences Productivity and Engagement](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/designing-spaces-for-success-how-your-meeting-room-setup-influences-productivity-and-engagement/) - The shape of your conference room table tells a story to everyone who walks in the room.
- [Keeping Team Meetings on Track Amidst Dominant Speakers](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/balancing-the-conversation-keeping-team-meetings-on-track-amidst-dominant-speakers/) - These practices keep the talkers in check and clear a path for the introverts.
- [3 Crucial Lessons from Coast Guard Training During a Government Shutdown](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/unlocking-business-insights-3-crucial-lessons-from-coast-guard-training-during-a-government-shutdown/) - Everyone on your team should understand these crucial business realities.
- [Engaging Your Staff for Rapid, Informed Decision Making](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/rapid-input-collection-engaging-your-staff-for-informed-decision-making/) - These techniques help you access the diverse perspectives that lead to better decisions.
- [Debunking Misconceptions to Elevate Your Company's Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/busting-meeting-myths-debunking-misconceptions-to-elevate-your-companys-meetings/) - If you want to improve your company's meetings this year, make sure you don't waste your efforts by falling victim to these common misconceptions.
- [How Moments of Quietude Transform Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/harnessing-the-power-of-silence-how-moments-of-quietude-transform-meetings/) - Meeting experts rely on moments of silence to bring out the best in a group.
- [Unveiling the 10 Rules for Running Highly Effective and Meaningful Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/science-backed-strategies-unveiling-the-10-rules-for-running-highly-effective-and-meaningful-meetings/) - Studies reveal the keys to running consistently effective and meaningful business meetings.
- [Strategies for Capturing Valuable Notes and Maximizing Team Productivity](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/from-meeting-to-action-strategies-for-capturing-valuable-notes-and-maximizing-team-productivity/) - The only way you can be sure your teams get value from meetings is to capture that value in writing.
- [Key Meetings to Ensure Productivity During Sudden Transitions](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/harnessing-remote-work-success-key-meetings-to-ensure-productivity-during-sudden-transitions/) - Because of the coronavirus, Amazon and Google have limited employee travel, and more precautions are coming. Run these meetings to make sure any switch to remote work in your business is a productive one.
- [Crafting an Effective Communication Framework in Times of Crisis](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/empowering-remote-teams-in-times-of-crisis-crafting-an-effective-communication-framework/) - Establish a new communication architecture to keep work moving ahead and support your remote co-workers.
- [Unleashing Your Remote Team's Full Potential](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/reimagining-accountability-unleashing-your-remote-teams-full-potential/) - Your attempts to drive accountability may be slowing your team down. There's a better way.
- [How 1,500 Newly Remote Workers Are Embracing Videoconferencing in the Workplace](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/candid-insights-how-1500-newly-remote-workers-are-embracing-videoconferencing-in-the-workplace/) - A survey of 1,500 newly remote workers reveals how teams are adapting to work via videoconferencing.
- [How I Learned to Stop Worrying and ❤️ Using AI in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-using-ai-in-meetings/) - Leaders worry that using AI in meetings will reduce their team's ownership for results. Experiments reveal four reasons not to worry.
- [Meetings that Made History: 5 Lessons to Learn from the Headlines](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meetings-that-made-history-5-lessons-to-learn-from-the-headlines/) - Stories about famous and infamous meetings contain lessons for all leaders.
- [Mastering Meeting Dynamics: Stay Calm Amidst Conflict](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/mastering-meeting-dynamics-stay-calm-amidst-conflict/) - It's easy to get defensive or go on the attack when a comment catches you out of the blue. Use these steps to act instead with grace and integrity.
- [Preparing for Challenging Talks: Ace Your Year-End Conversations](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/ace-your-year-end-conversations/) - End-of-year events bring us together with people we might otherwise avoid. Prepare now so you can keep those conversations productive.
- [Turning Lateness Around: Minimize Co-worker Frustration in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/turning-lateness-around-minimize-co-worker-frustration-in-meetings/) - Researchers found this common bad habit enrages people and drains productivity too.
- [Transforming Mediocre Meetings: Strategies for Non-Leaders](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/transforming-mediocre-meetings-strategies-for-non-leaders/) - Use these strategies to help the whole team enjoy a more productive meeting when your meeting leader falls short.
- [Igniting Curiosity: Use Guided Questions to Fuel Team Ideas](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/igniting-curiosity-use-guided-questions-to-fuel-team-ideas/) - Spark curiosity in your meetings to nurture a more innovative, engaged team.
- [Using Custom Zoom Backgrounds to Make a Professional Impression](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/using-custom-zoom-backgrounds-to-make-a-professional-impression/) - Use custom backgrounds to set the mood, envision success, and bring that next level of polish to your video calls.
- [Fix Bad Meetings Using These 5 Simple Steps](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/fix-bad-meetings-using-these-5-simple-steps/) - Give your team the tools they need to rescue their meetings when things go wrong.
- [Employees Aren't Ready to Embrace Remote Work. Businesses Are.](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/employees-arent-ready-to-embrace-remote-work-businesses-are/) - Two new surveys of people forced to go remote show productivity up, yet burnout close behind.
- [How to Improve Your Remote Customer Relationships Using Video](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/4-ways-to-build-remote-customer-relationships-using-video/) - Companies are rapidly digitizing the customer experience. Use video to bring back that human touch.
- [Mastering Meeting Discipline: The Simple Strategy That Works](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/mastering-meeting-discipline-the-simple-strategy-that-works/) - Discipline doesn't have to be punishing or harsh. Sometimes it just means you need a timely reminder.
- [Sleepy Meetings: Lessons for Leaders from Secretary Ross’ Story](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/sleepy-meetings-lessons-for-leaders-from-secretary-ross-story/) - If you can't meet, you can't lead.
- [Avoiding the Pitfalls: Key Mistakes Leaders Make in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/avoiding-the-pitfalls-key-mistakes-leaders-make-in-meetings/) - Lack of preparation leads to wasted time in meetings and impacts productivity after the meeting.
- [Productivity Bites: 5 Snacks to Keep You Focused in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/productivity-bites-5-snacks-to-keep-you-focused-in-meetings/) - These snacks fuel important discussions, minimize distraction, and show your team you care.
- [The Engagement Secret: Cisco’s Discovery to Drive Team Success](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-engagement-secret-ciscos-discovery-to-drive-team-success/) - One-on-ones really work, but only if you run them the right way.
- [Team Empowerment: 8 Roles for Supercharging Productive Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/team-empowerment-8-roles-for-supercharging-productive-meetings/) - Meetings are a team sport. Great team leaders don't try to do all the work alone.
- [The Power of Inquiry: 7 Questions to Drive Great Decision-Making](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-power-of-inquiry-7-questions-to-drive-great-decision-making/) - When your team compares their answers to these questions, you'll make better decisions faster.
- [Maximizing Connection: 25 Powerful Questions for Meaningful One-on-One Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/maximizing-connection-25-powerful-questions-for-meaningful-one-on-one-meetings/) - Team engagement and performance improve when we take the time to ask important questions.
- [Anger Management: 4 Books to Transform Frustration in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/anger-management-4-books-to-transform-frustration-in-meetings/) - Anger can create the energy we need to stand up for what's right, but it's draining. These books show more sustainable ways to confront issues.
- [Thinking ‘Upside Down’: Unleash Your Team’s Potential like Warren Buffett](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/thinking-upside-down-unleash-your-teams-potential-like-warren-buffett/) - When you approach opportunities from a nonintuitive angle, you create better plans faster.
- [Check-In Efficiency: 5 Creative Strategies for Snappy Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/check-in-efficiency-5-creative-strategies-for-snappy-meetings/) - The best daily check-in meetings (a.k.a huddles, stand-ups, scrums, adrenaline meetings, etc.) are zippy and energizing.
- [Employee Insights Made Easy: Unlock Feelings with 1 Essential Question](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/employee-insights-made-easy-unlock-feelings-with-1-essential-question/) - You'll be surprised to see the range of emotion this simple question evokes.
- [Navigating Tragedy: Empowering Your Team with 3 Vital Coping Tools](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/navigating-tragedy-empowering-your-team-with-3-vital-coping-tools/) - Foster a healing workplace by making space to acknowledge the impact of outside events.
- [Breaking the Ice: 28 Engaging Questions to Kickstart Team Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/breaking-the-ice-28-engaging-questions-to-kickstart-team-meetings/) - Think icebreakers only apply to meetings with people you don't know? Think again.
- [Steer Clear of Disaster: How to Avoid 3 Unexpected Meeting Pitfalls](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/steer-clear-of-disaster-how-to-avoid-3-unexpected-meeting-pitfalls/) - Sometimes good intentions turn into a bumbling mess. Learn how to avoid these common missteps.
- [Hiring for Success: 2 Essential Questions for Interviewing New Leads](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/hiring-for-success-2-essential-questions-for-interviewing-new-leads/) - Leaders spend up to 80 percent of their day in meetings. Better make sure they have the skills needed to use that time well.
- [Beyond Walking Out: Empowering Productive Meetings from the Start](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/beyond-walking-out-empowering-productive-meetings-from-the-start/) - Instead of planning to have people to walk out of valueless meetings, train everyone to ensure meetings have value before they walk in.
- [The Meeting-Powered Path to Project Excellence: Unleashing Growth through Vision, Values, and Leadership](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-meeting-powered-path-to-project-excellence-unleashing-growth-through-vision-values-and-leadership/) - Vision-values leadership and well-designed meetings can keep your company growing strong.
- [Revolutionizing Meetings: The Case for Making Attendance Optional](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/revolutionizing-meetings-the-case-for-making-attendance-optional/) - Want better meetings? Let everyone know they don't have to show up.
- [Unlocking Client Delight: Shifting Meeting Dynamics for Lasting Success](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/unlocking-client-delight-shifting-meeting-dynamics-for-lasting-success/) - Success means treating every meeting with a decision maker as the invaluable opportunity it is.
- [Cracking the Boredom Code: Transforming Meetings from Dull to Dynamic](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/cracking-the-boredom-code-transforming-meetings-from-dull-to-dynamic/) - It just takes a few minutes of creative thinking to make all the difference.
- [From Solo to Synergy: Convincing Others to Embrace Better Meeting Practices](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/from-solo-to-synergy-convincing-others-to-embrace-better-meeting-practices/) - You can't change bad meeting habits on your own. Here's how to get others onboard.
- [Elevate Your Meetings: 5 Simple Ways to Make 2019 a Year of Magnificent Collaboration](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/elevate-your-meetings-5-simple-ways-to-make-2019-a-year-of-magnificent-collaboration/) - Your team will thank you for holding great meetings when you make a few simple updates to your approach.
- [Unleashing Success in 2019: 2 Powerful Strategies for Entrepreneurial Excellence](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/unleashing-success-in-2019-2-powerful-strategies-for-entrepreneurial-excellence/) - Being an entrepreneur means you're never done. These two practices help us all keep on keeping on.
- [Breaking Free from Meeting FOMO: 4 Strategies to Reclaim Your Productivity](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/breaking-free-from-meeting-fomo-4-strategies-to-reclaim-your-productivity/) - You're Stuck in a Meeting You Don't Care About. Here Are 4 Ways to Make Sure It Never Happens Again.
- [Why Your Meetings Aren't as Effective as You Think: The Overlooked Factors You Need to Know](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-your-meetings-arent-as-effective-as-you-think-the-overlooked-factors-you-need-to-know/) - You're Probably Ignoring These 3 Keys to Leading Effective Meetings
- [Unlocking the Art of Running Great Meetings: 3 Strategies to Become a Meeting Master](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/unlocking-the-art-of-running-great-meetings-3-strategies-to-become-a-meeting-master/) - It takes skill to run a great meeting. Here's how to get the practice you need.
- [Transforming Meetings: From Painful Waste to Competitive Advantage](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/transforming-meetings-from-painful-waste-to-competitive-advantage/) - Meetings can be a source of pain and frustration, or your secret to success.
- [How to Create a Useful Meeting Flow Model for Your Team](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meeting-flow-modeling-how-to-create-a-useful-meeting-flow-model-for-your-team/) - A Meeting Flow Model is a form of process documentation that highlights the main meetings used to achieve a business result. In the previous article, I introduced the Meeting Flow Model (MFM) concept and described some of the benefits enjoyed by teams that use a defined MFM. Meeting Flow Models are super sweet. You and
- [Should you talk about the news at work? If so, how?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/should-you-talk-about-the-news-at-work-if-so-how/) - Several years ago I wrote an article for Inc. about 3 Powerful Ways to Help Your Team Cope With Tragedy. At the time, the tragedy was the burning of Notre Dame. Last week's invasion of Ukraine resurfaced this conversation. Looking back, the Notre Dame fire seems merely unfortunate in comparison to the events of the
- [Why We're Focusing on Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-were-focusing-on-meetings/) - Over the past 15 years, we've spent a lot of time helping teams get work done using collaboration software. We've worked as developers, consultants, marketers, project managers, and volunteers, with companies and organizations across sectors ranging from local PTAs to international aerospace associations. We've learned a lot. We've learned that people are people - from
- [Examine your meetings, question your culture](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/examine-your-meetings-question-your-culture/) - While building Lucid Meetings, we interviewed a lot of people about how meetings work in their companies, the problems they have and how they solve them. We heard from several people who experienced issues with poor preparation, an inability to reach decisions, and teams that didn't follow through with the plans made during the meeting.
- [Measuring the Cost and Value of Meetings: Part I - Software Costs](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/measuring-the-cost-and-value-of-meetings-part-i-software-costs/) - Part I: Software Costs As you may have seen, we recently announced new pricing for Lucid Meetings. You may have wondered how we arrived at the prices we did. Then again, maybe you didn't. Either way, prepare to be informed. We wanted to make sure we could save teams money on their software costs, and to
- [Thank you note to the Oregon Ducks Football Team](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/thank-you-note-to-the-oregon-ducks-football-team/) - Ok - I know I promised I'd write next about how to calculate the costs of time spent in meetings, but I felt this needed to be said before it was too late. Dear Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks Rose Bowl Champion Football Team, Thank you for helping me finally understand American football. I'm not
- [Measuring the Cost and Value of Meetings: Part III - Determining Meeting Value](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/measuring-the-cost-and-value-of-meetings-part-iii-determining-meeting-value/) - Beauty and Value: both all up in your eyes A quick preface: value, like beauty, is subjective and personal. Measuring meeting value, then, becomes an exercise of finding a methodology for turning these individual perceptions of value into a consistent and repeatable format. We propose the following approach: Focus your meeting rating on a single
- [Measuring the Cost and Value of Meetings: Part IV - The Gut Check](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/measuring-the-cost-and-value-of-meetings-part-iv-the-gut-check/) - There's no one here except us people Fundamentally, we meet to satisfy our needs for rich information gathering, human connection and to feel a part of a group. Kevin Hoffman says that meetings "...are the only place we can apply the full range of human communication styles: verbal (spoken word), visual (written words and image), and
- [Emergency! What SCUBA Dive Instruction Can Teach You About Responding to a Business Crisis](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/emergency-what-scuba-dive-instruction-can-teach-you-about-responding-to-a-business-crisis/) - A few years ago as a hobby, I became a SCUBA Instructor. It was a great weekend gig that kept me outside, in the water, and interacting with divers eager to learn about our oceans. To ensure I knew what I was doing in the unlikely event of an emergency, I attended Emergency First Responder
- [What did you get out of that meeting, and how do you know?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/what-did-you-get-out-of-that-meeting-and-how-do-you-know/) - More importantly, how does your boss know? And what about your clients/members/stakeholders - how do they know? Research shows that meeting consumes more time than any other business practice: people meet all the time. And what are they getting for this investment? Research also shows that by and large, people find many meetings a waste of time -
- [Meet a Couple More Meeting Killers](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meet-a-couple-more-meeting-killers/) - Running a good meeting is not simply about controlling the tempo and topic of the meeting, but also about managing the different personalities in attendance. In a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal, there was an article covering this topic entitled Meet the Meeting Killers, in which they describe four types of co-workers who
- [The First Rule of Meet Club: Do we really need to meet?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-first-rule-of-meet-club-do-we-really-need-to-meet/) - While traipsing through the halls of a local high tech startup, I chanced across this laminated set of rules in the cafeteria. Why the cafeteria? Because that's a high traffic area and it's important that everyone get the message: meetings cost time and money, so think about what you're doing! The first rule of Meet Club is
- [My Year With Lucid: Every Interview Is a Meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/my-year-with-lucid-every-interview-is-a-meeting/) - For the past seven years, I've been juggling two careers: technical project manager and freelance writer. The project management part is familiar to most people in tech today; it's a now-common mix of general web skills, organizational ability, and the willingness to do basic calendar math. The freelance writing bit has more to do with creating narratives and
- [5 Reasons to Take Notes in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-reasons-to-take-notes-in-your-meetings/) - Salary.com conducts a semi-regular survey to discover how employees waste time at work. While social media definitely has an impact, the reported champion time-waster was too many meetings. Again. Responding to surveys didn't even make the list. If you want to have meetings that work rather than waste time, you are probably already working to set
- [6 Ways to Make Sure People Are Listening in Your Virtual Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/6-ways-to-make-sure-people-are-listening-in-your-virtual-meetings/) - Did you know the average manager spends 30% of their time in meetings? And, research shows that 46% of meetings result in no action. But what if you could save time and get more done? What if you and your coworkers could actually say, "that was a great meeting?" When you have an in-person meeting, you can tell
- [Defining Collaborative Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/defining-collaborative-meetings/) - We develop software designed to improve collaborative meetings, and the people we reach out to are those who often hold collaborative meetings. When we talk about collaborative meetings, it sometimes sounds like we're just flipping our verbs and adjectives about. So let's take a moment and get clear on what we mean when we say
- [Infographic: 7 keys to successful client meetings online](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/infographic-7-keys-to-successful-client-meetings-online/) - Project managers with training and experience know that there's more to running a project than simply writing down some dates and hounding people for status updates. Scrum masters and Agile coaches who have worked with more than one kind of team also know there's a big difference between getting that certificate and actually knowing how
- [Plan to communicate, and have a communication plan](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/plan-to-communicate-have-communication-plan/) - Do you tend to manage projects loosely, or do you develop detailed project plans with pages of fancy Gantt charts? Either way, there's one strategy you should always consider: a plan to communicate. Communication is simply defined as an exchange of information, yet this can mean different things to different people. For instance, all of the
- [Book Review: Meet Like You Mean It](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/book-review-meet-like-you-mean-it-virtual-meetings/) - I bought this book because I've been following Wayne Turmel's work on collaboration and virtual meetings for several years. I was looking for a single reference that provided specific, actionable guidance for leading better VIRTUAL MEETINGS. This book not only achieves that goal, but exceeded my expectations by going beyond technology and focusing on how
- [How to take notes in meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-take-notes-in-meetings/) - Have you ever been asked to take meeting notes? We've all been there, and usually no one is thrilled about it. However, taking meeting notes is a critical step in moving work forward, and everyone should know how to do it well. Not clear why you should even take a note? Then by all means start
- [Agenda writing for high-performance teams: Lessons learned from Mission Impossible and the A-Team](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/agenda-writing-for-high-performance-teams-lessons-learned-from-mission-impossible-and-the-a-team/) - There are lots of articles out there on how to put together an agenda, many of which focus on proper agenda etiquette, including formatting, logistics, and the judicious use of inspirational quotes. If you're running formal board meetings or regular committee meetings, then it makes sense to spend some time learning about the Standard Order of Business from Robert's
- [3 Reasons to Rethink Private Meeting Notes](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-reasons-to-rethink-private-meeting-notes/) - I started experimenting with profanity at age 10, and my mother told me "Whenever you use one of those words, I want you to picture that thing you just said physically dropping out of your mouth onto your shoes." This effectively unpleasant image kept my language squeaky clean for about 2 years, and has helped me
- [How to Facilitate a Meeting with Confidence](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-facilitate-a-meeting-with-confidence/) - Have you been entrusted with managing a new project or coordinating a weekly meeting? How do you take the lead to ensure you get the respect you deserve? You may not have been trained in the disciplines of leadership or facilitation - but there are a few reliable strategies that when used effectively will demonstrate
- [The Key to Success in Business: Effective Meeting Facilitation](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-key-to-success-in-business-effective-meeting-facilitation/) - We all know time can be wasted in meetings, but do we really need to bash them as toxic, soul-sucking, productivity killers? It’s not the meetings themselves that are at fault here - it’s the facilitators. Yes, the people who are scheduling and running them are wasting your time - in my opinion they’re the ones who come between you
- [Who Does What in a Collaborative Meeting: Defining Meeting Roles](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/who-does-what-defining-meeting-roles/) - When you hold a collaborative meeting, one key to getting results is deciding on who does what. If you define the meeting roles of the people invited, everyone knows what to expect. If you don't define those roles, someone's time is being wasted. Okay, so how do you do this? Start by assigning your roles. Here's
- [5 Tips to Lead and Facilitate a Meeting Simultaneously](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-tips-to-lead-and-facilitate-a-meeting-simultaneously/) - There are four distinct roles within a collaborative meeting: Leader, Facilitator, Note-Taker, and Participant. So what happens if you have to be Leader and Facilitator at the same time? Here are tips to make the best of this sticky situation. 1. Have Someone Else Capture Notes As we discussed in our "Who Does What" post,
- [Meetings Taking Too Long? 6 Tips for Shorter Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meetings-taking-too-long-6-tips-for-shorter-meetings/) - We've all been in meetings that take longer than they should. But if you're leading a meeting, how can you streamline that meeting and share the load with your team? Here are six practical, simple ways to cut your meetings down to size. 1. Clarify the Goal The number one way to fix meetings taking
- [Anatomy of the perfect meeting invitation email [includes templates]](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/anatomy-of-the-perfect-meeting-invitation-email/) - Tip: Be sure not to miss the downloadable business meeting invitation email templates at the end of the story "Hey, do you have a minute?" That's the best invitation for the most common type of meeting. You know, the kind we used to just call a conversation, or even simply "talking to Fred." But with communications increasingly going
- [5 Icebreakers for Distributed Team Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-icebreakers-for-distributed-team-meetings/) - When you run online meetings with people who are located in different parts of the world, it's crucial that you help your team make a human connection. "Icebreakers" are just the ticket: short team-building exercises conducted at the beginning of a meeting. Because you don't have a physical way to get people moving around the
- [10 Tips for Running Online Meetings with People in Other Countries](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/10-tips-for-running-international-conference-calls-online/) - We meet with international teams all the time -- our own company spans three timezones and two countries, and we work with clients around the world. When you host international conference calls with people living in different countries, you run into special challenges. Here are 10 tips to help you plan and run international meetings
- [2 Fast and Easy Ways to Get Meeting Feedback](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/2-fast-easy-ways-get-meeting-feedback/) - We all sit in meetings. But how often do we examine how well those meetings go? In this post, we'll walk through two simple ways to assess meeting effectiveness, so you'll know how to make your meetings better. Before we dive into the specifics, let’s cover a few general tips: Let people know you’ll be
- [How to select the right online meeting platform for any meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-select-right-online-meeting-platform-any-meeting/) - Download this article as a PDF Today we're taking an in-depth look at how to match software features to the type of meeting you're running, which is the first item in our Top 10 Things to Consider When Purchasing Meeting Software checklist. Have you ever walked into a meeting where there weren’t enough chairs? Those
- [Our favorite short videos about meetings & teamwork](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/our-favorite-short-videos-about-meetings-teamwork/) - Better meetings - it’s a big freaking topic. Better how? For what reason? What exactly do we need to make better here anyway? When you tackle a big challenge like improving your company’s meetings, it helps to look at the problem from different perspectives – to back up and consider the big picture, then learn
- [4 Ways to Run Successful Meetings People Won't Hate](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/4-ways-to-run-successful-meetings-people-wont-hate/) - We just launched an ebook to help you figure out how much meetings cost your company, how they affect your company's culture, and how to make them better. Over the coming weeks, we'll post excerpts to give you a taste. First up, here are four ways to run successful meetings that people won't hate. The
- [6 Meeting Metrics to Collect in Every Meeting You Run](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/6-meeting-metrics-to-collect-in-every-meeting-you-run/) - Here's an excerpt from our new ebook, Meetings Are Serious Business: How to Minimize Costs, Maximize Value, and Master Your Meetings. It's from the third chapter, when we get into specifics about how to improve the ROI of your meetings by collecting metrics of meetings. It's easier than you'd think. Dive in! You intuitively know
- [How to Make the Case to Your Boss to Work Remotely](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-make-the-case-to-your-boss-to-work-remotely/) - Why Work Remotely? There are some real benefits to working remotely, and if you value them (like we do), then maybe the time has come to approach your boss about the idea. One big reason employees choose to work from home is so they don't have to commute. A drive (or metro, bus, bike) into work
- [The Better Meetings Book List](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/better-meetings-booklist/) - The bookshelves in the Lucid Meetings main office are jam-packed with business books, technical references, Esther Gokhale’s fabulous 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back (posture, people!), and TONS and tons of books about meetings. Many of which we’ve actually read, some that we aspire to read more deeply, all of which we’ve skimmed, and a
- [4 ways to run status meetings with your remote team that actually work](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/4-ways-status-meetings-remote-team-that-work/) - Hint: Download the PDF facilitator guides for all 4 meetings at the end of this post. Most teams run status meetings because they always have. Because someone told them to. Because that’s what they did in their last job. Because the client asked for them. Just because that’s what you do. The result? Almost 50
- [Question of the Day: How do you track meeting results?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/question-of-the-day-how-do-you-track-meeting-results/) - Recently we received this question from a Lucid Meetings customer. What have you found to be the best way to track meeting deliverables and analyze efficiency / value added during meetings? This is a great question; one that every group should ask themselves. So, we thought it would be valuable to share our answers with
- [Debunking 4 Common Myths about Stand-Up Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/debunking-4-common-myths-stand-up-meetings/) - Recently we suggested The Stand-Up as a way to run status meetings with remote teams. Of the four formats we listed, the stand-up is probably the most popular, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood meetings around. Today we’ll take a deeper look at the stand-up and the common-but-wrong ideas you may have heard
- [Meetings as Competitive Sport](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meetings-as-competitive-sport/) - Many years ago, I met with Michael Harrington, a public speaking coach and trainer. He described his training approach as that of "taking a competitive sports view" to public speaking. His view was that you could train people with some very specific skills and thereby teach them to win the day, so to speak. For
- [The Better Meetings Playlist: Songs for your Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-better-meetings-playlist-songs-for-your-meetings/) - As I was researching how different teams run daily stand-ups, I ran across Jason Yip's description of how he uses music to gather the team. This is not the first time I've that come across techniques that use songs for meetings. Related: Our Favorite Short Videos about Meetings & Teamwork For those of you looking
- [How to Assemble Great Virtual Teams for Remote Work](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-assemble-great-virtual-teams-for-remote-work/) - We are living in a digital world, and it’s likely that every manager has thought seriously about hiring remote workers. Remote work is no longer a thing of the future – it is here, now. In fact, it’s been around since the dawn of time - how else do you think armies were able to navigate world wars,
- [5 Easy Tips to Make Your Online Sales Meetings Stand Out](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-easy-tips-to-make-your-online-sales-meetings-stand-out/) - Who isn’t familiar with the deadly sales meeting where someone drones on, flipping through the 100-slide PowerPoint deck? This situation is even worse when you’re working online, presenting from a distance. Your audience’s eyelids are drooping. They’re checking out cat memes. They no longer have any idea what’s being said. They just know that they long
- [5 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement in Meetings …and Why it Matters](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-ways-to-improve-employee-engagement-in-meetings-and-why-it-matters/) - Early in my career, my supervisor did me a big favor, although it didn’t feel like it at the time. Kurt put me on probation for not speaking during meetings. He stated it very simply—Paul, if you don’t speak, you don’t add value. I had lots of ways to justify my lack of speaking: I
- [The Essential Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-essential-project-kickoff-meeting-agenda/) - How we begin matters. In the life of every project there is a time before, when the project exists as a possibility. From this possibility, we craft our intentions for the project. We envision what could be, and we fear what might happen. At some point, perhaps when a contract gets signed or a team
- [How to Lead Introductions in Business Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-lead-introductions-in-business-meetings/) - Source: Tim Cordell on Cartoonstock.com Many years ago I was asked to represent my company on a national committee. I had to fly from Portland, Oregon to Washington D.C. for the meeting, find my way around the city wearing an actual business suit and heels, then walk into this room and make a good impression. I
- [3 Keys to the Best Project Meetings with Remote Teams](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-keys-to-the-best-virtual-team-meetings/) - Meetings come 3 general forms: The traditional face-to-face meeting conference calls, and video conference calls There are probably some variations you can think of on these three based on different technology, but this about covers it. Now, consider you’re working with a remote team – you’re the project manager and your team is geographically dispersed
- [3 Proven Strategies for Exceeding Customer Expectations](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-proven-strategies-for-exceeding-customer-expectations/) - You can look at project success from many angles and probably come up with a dozen different ways to measure it. However, there are really three main keys to project success: on time delivery on budget delivery, and exceeding customer expectations Some project managers like to include quality in there as well, and you
- [Meetings: A Love and Hate Affair [Meeting Infographic]](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meetings-a-love-and-hate-affair-meeting-infographic/) - The folks at Lane End Conferences recently put together an infographic about meetings that they’ve asked us to share (see the full picture below). We were intrigued because, unlike most infographics on the topic, this one acknowledges just a bit of love (a wee teensy bit, but still) for the much maligned meeting. When you
- [An Intro to Strategic Planning with Remote Teams](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/intro-strategic-planning-with-remote-teams/) - This post is the first in a series. You can find the whole series in our Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams. Do you need to create a strategic plan, and wonder how to go about the strategic planning process? Concerned whether that process can even work with remote teams? Meet Anna O’Byrne. Anna O’Byrne is
- [Strategic Planning with Remote Teams Part 2: Preparing to Plan](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-with-remote-teams-preparing-to-plan/) - This post is the second in a series. You can find the whole series in our Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams. When I worked at larger companies as a product manager, I LOVED to get invited to strategic planning sessions. These were usually held at a nearby hotel or corporate meeting/vacation center.
- [Strategic Planning with Remote Teams Part 3: Crafting the Vision and Mission Statements](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-with-remote-teams-part-3-crafting-the-vision-and-mission-statements/) - This post is the third in a series. You can find the whole series in our Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams. Have you ever tried strategic planning without first getting your vision and mission right? What did you find? If you were a small, cohesive group, maybe you breezed through goal-setting based
- [35 Tools for Online Brainstorming and Decision Making in Meetings (2020 update)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/25-tools-for-online-brainstorming-and-decision-making-in-meetings/) - Including step-by-step instructions, screenshots, short reviews, and our top recommendations Last updated April 14, 2020For this update, we added several new tools and removed a few that are no longer in business. You'll find helpful replies and information from the companies listed here embedded in the full list at the end of the post. This
- [Strategic Planning Part 4: How to Define Organizational Values](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-with-remote-teams-defining-organizational-values/) - This post is the fourth in a series. You can find the whole series in our Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams. When an organization’s values appear as guiding principles, a code of conduct, or a culture code that explains how the organization intends to operate in accordance with those values, a values statement
- [The Power of Silence in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-power-of-silence-in-meetings/) - Meetings are a time for people to come together to exchange ideas, discuss issues, communicate and make decisions. And while there are many components to effective meetings, one factor that isn’t always necessary is talking. To be engaged in a meeting doesn’t necessarily mean you are talking. In a world of overwhelming noise, silence is
- [The Root Cause of Boring, Unproductive Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-root-cause-of-boring-unproductive-meetings/) - Imagine yourself sitting in yet another mind numbing, time-wasting meeting. And then imagine that instead of thinking about all the other things you have to do when the meeting finally ends, you ask yourself “How did we get into this situation?” Bad meetings do not just happen. They are not a curse cast upon all
- [Create a Team Agreement to Avoid Misunderstandings on Your Remote Team](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/create-a-team-agreement-to-avoid-misunderstandings-on-your-remote-team/) - New Meeting Agenda Template! Here at Lucid, we're fans of Lisette Sutherland's work with remote teams on CollaborationSuperpowers.com, Happy Melly, and her blog at lisettesutherland.com. When we saw her post on creating a working agreement for remote teams, we thought it was a great idea that would make for a really useful meeting template. Happily,
- [Strategic Planning with Remote Teams Part 5: Goals & Strategies](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-with-remote-teams-part-5-goals-strategies/) - Once you have an established vision and mission, it's time to figure out exactly what you'll do to achieve them. The Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams breaks this work into two sessions. In the first, the team establishes a series of high-level goals, and in the second, they define the specific strategies
- [Building Our Remote Team's Working Agreement](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/remote-team-working-agreement-example/) - We test every new meeting template before it’s published to the Lucid template gallery. We check for typos and configuration problems, and we test to see if the flow feels right. Sometimes that’s pretty hard, because we don’t always have a need for that template ourselves at the time. When it came time to test
- [How a Completely Distributed Accounting Firm Does Strategic Planning, Virtually](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/distributed-accounting-firm-does-strategic-planning-virtually/) - For the virtual strategic planning series I interviewed another expat entrepreneur living in nearly the same time zone. Carrie McKeegan and her husband, David, run their distributed business from Bali. Their company not only works virtually - with a global team - but exists to solve a pain point inherent in working abroad: tax complications.
- [3 Rules for Building High Performance Project Teams](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-rules-for-building-high-performance-project-teams/) - Performance, performance, performance. Doing more with less. Making the most of what you are given. Meeting the needs of the project customer head-on. Are you and your team doing these things every day on your project? Your competition is, so you better be. But how? How do you get the most out of your team? How do you
- [Strategic Planning with Remote Teams: Does it really work?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-with-remote-teams-does-it-work/) - One “Essential Strategic Plan” template, five meeting agendas that walk you through filling it out, seven blog posts, and a review of 26 online brainstorming tools, all combine to make up the Complete Toolkit for Strategic Planning with Remote Teams. Today's post is the last in our series. Now that we've got the whole package
- [Top 5 Ideas for Technical Project Managers to Accelerate Deployment](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/top-5-considerations-for-accelerating-deployment-on-a-technical-project/) - Have you ever had a project client come to you and say, “Can we implement this a month sooner than we originally planned?” No, that never happens…right? As a technical project manager, if something similar hasn’t already happened to you, trust me, it will. It doesn’t sound like that big of a deal. A month,
- [Strategic Planning for Remote Teams: Interview with Hubstaff’s Dave Nevogt](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/strategic-planning-remote-teams-interview-hubstaff-dave-nevogt/) - Up today in the series on how remote teams do strategic planning: Dave Nevogt of Hubstaff on getting more freedom with strategic planning - starting with mission and values. You’ll learn how Dave invested in a new approach to setting expectations and priorities, and how it sets him free from constant on-call management. We’ll also go
- [The No clue why we're meeting!" Agenda"](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-no-clue-why-were-meeting-agenda/) - There are times when I put a meeting on my schedule, and I have no good idea why. I don’t really know the goal of the meeting, there’s no agenda, and I have no clue what the meeting is meant to accomplish. If you follow this blog, you may find this shocking. One of the
- [5 Steps to Land Your Next Project Management Job](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-steps-to-landing-your-next-project-management-job/) - The economy hasn’t completely turned around yet, but it is getting better. Unemployment rates are slowly going down, foreclosures are dropping, and house values are finally going up again. But it still isn’t easy to find a job – you’ll know this if you’ve applied to any in the last year or so. It’s still
- [The Missing Guide to Troubleshooting Audio & Video Conferencing Problems](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/missing-guide-troubleshooting-audio-video-conferencing/) - Just want the highlights?Get the key tips minus all the commentary in the PDF version of this guide. Contents The Goal: Get as close to in-person quality as reasonably possible. The Challenges The Recommended Approach Tips for Getting the Best Call Quality List of Common Problems and How to Fix Them A Little Background ReadyTalk says that
- [Why It's a Mistake to Run Strategy Sessions Yourself](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-its-a-mistake-to-run-a-strategy-session-yourself/) - Small businesses thrive because their leaders have a can-do mentality; they take on all manner of specialist tasks, just to get it done on time and on budget. I'm the same. But when it comes to running your strategic planning session, I'd urge you not to DIY. You Really Do Need Neutrality Anyone with a
- [55 Million: A Fresh Look at the Number, Effectiveness, and Cost of Meetings in the U.S.](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/fresh-look-number-effectiveness-cost-meetings-in-us/) - Last updated September 3, 2022Hey there! If you find this article interesting, you may also want to check out the 2022 update: How many meetings are there per day in 2022? (And should you care?) The Story Behind the Numbers Bad meetings are a big issue in the modern workplace. Just how big of
- [5 Ways to Successfully Jumpstart Your Next Project](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-ways-to-successfully-jumpstart-your-next-project/) - Getting the Project Started Have you ever sat down to get start work on a new project that you were handed and then run into some sort of strange project manager's “writer's block”? I have. I'm guessing at some time or another most of us have. You know the drill, you know what has to be
- [A Step By Step Strategy to Crush Your Next Sales Call](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-step-by-step-strategy-to-crush-your-next-sales-call/) - Most people think online sales meetings only last for an hour or so. They join at the beginning, and an hour later it’s over. However, these are usually the people that attend meetings, not the ones who plan them. Great salespeople know that much more is involved in making meetings successful: they are actually a
- [Key Learnings About Meetings and Meeting Software](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/key-learnings-from-2015/) - The only thing that is constant is change.” Heraclitus 2015, like all the years before it, was a year of big changes for Lucid Meetings. We've had a very good year. Our platform has become more mature and our customer base has grown. We've met new people and created new cooperative relationships with other companies.
- [7 Meeting Checkpoints That Ensure Alignment](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/7-meeting-checkpoints-that-ensure-alignment/) - Standing meetings, quick huddles, speedy meetings – everywhere we look, the productivity experts are challenging us to run faster, shorter meetings. But sometimes when you get running really fast, it’s easy to lose people along the way. When a group rushes through updates and decisions, anyone who comes to the meeting distracted, unfamiliar with the topic,
- [A Protocol for Clearing Questions and Handling Complaints](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-protocol-for-clearing-questions-and-handling-complaints/) - One of the most common requirements on a job posting is “Excellent communication skills”. The hope is that if you hire people with these excellent communication skills, you’ll avoid all the confusion, distrust, mistakes and anxiety that arises when people fail to communicate openly and clearly. Unfortunately, it’s hard to evaluate how well someone’s excellent
- [Technology That Makes Meetings Effective](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/technology-that-makes-meetings-effective/) - Let’s start with a brief history . . . Dawn of Time: Cavemen gather to plan their hunts. Details are painted on walls of caves. Best practices are non-existent, but the species survives. 1560s: Sir Thomas Smyth begins writing down the accepted practices for meetings in England’s House of Commons. “Parliamentary procedures” are now codified,
- [What You Need to Know About Board Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-board-meetings/) - As a young professional, I found The Board intimidating. It really didn’t matter what The Board was a board of - it was always clear that The Board included many Very Important People who made big important decisions. I think a lot of people feel this way about The Board, and it creates some unique
- [Survey Results: What Makes Meetings Worth Attending](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/survey-results-what-makes-meetings-worth-attending/) - In December, we published A Fresh Look at the Number, Effectiveness, and Cost of Meetings in the U.S., which dug into what the available research could tell us about those things. What we found suggested that people meet more than ever, and for the most part, they find those meetings pretty effective. Still, questions remained.
- [The Key to Organizational Discipline](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/key-to-organizational-discipline/) - Usually when we think of discipline, it’s deeply personal and not that much fun. One kind of discipline involves punishing others. For example, as a parent, I may discipline my misbehaving child. Another kind of discipline punishes ourselves. We exercise self-discipline when we turn down dessert, get up earlier than we want to go jogging
- [Getting Work Done in Meetings: Structures for Success](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/getting-work-done-in-meetings-structures-for-success/) - Leaders get work done through the conversations they hold. Often those conversations are in meetings—particularly when multiple people need to be in the discussion. In spite of all the criticism of time-wasted in meetings, leaders need meetings to create new insights, build understanding, and make decisions with their teams. As a leader, you can choose
- [How to Run an Urgent Problem Solving Meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-run-an-urgent-problem-solving-meeting/) - Everything exploded. You’ve got a mess. Now what? In one of the first posts on this blog, our friend and former partner wrote about adapting his emergency response training as a SCUBA instructor to the business setting. Chris translated the steps for triaging a physical emergency into a basic meeting agenda. It looked very much
- [The Remote Team Meeting Essentials Pack](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-remote-team-meeting-essentials-pack/) - On the TV show The Profit, Marcus Lemonis teaches that “people, process and product” are the three keys to a successful business. As Chairman and CEO of Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises, he leads close to 6,000 employees in over 100 cities across the US. I’ll take that as a credible source. There are
- [Accessing the Wisdom of Your Group](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/accessing-the-wisdom-of-your-group/) - Once in a while, a new manager will come to an organization and do something that is both bold and disruptive. First, they will ask the group to set aside their PowerPoint slides and their usual meeting topics for an hour. Next, they will open up the conversation in a simple, elegant and powerful way.
- [The Power of Gratitude in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-power-of-gratitude-in-meetings/) - We've known Tom Flynn for many years. Over lunch recently, he shared with us this story about a master facilitator he met early in his career who had a powerful influence on shaping the kind of leader Tom is today. With all the "tips" and "tricks" and "5 easy ways" we see every day about how
- [How to Lead a Successful Project Retrospective Meeting (2019 Update)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-lead-a-successful-project-retrospective-meeting/) - We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience. John Dewey These meetings go by many names - postmortems, retrospectives, after-action reviews, wrap-ups, project “success” meetings. Regardless of what you call them, they all have the same goal and follow the same basic pattern. What is a Project Retrospective? The Project
- [5 Meetings for Remarkable Leaders](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-meetings-remarkable-leaders/) - Remarkable leaders understand that how they design and lead meetings determines how well their group functions. Why Leaders Need to Master Meetings Meetings serve a critical function in the workplace. The meeting's job is to lead a group from wherever they are individually to a new place where they can have a shared perspective. We call this convergence;
- [7 Insights about Conversation, Relationship, and Being Remarkable](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/seven-insights-about-conversation-relationship-and-being-remarkable/) - We recently co-hosted a Q&A webinar with Paul Axtell, and didn’t know exactly what to expect. He gave such a great presentation – useful tidbits about meetings, great conversations, and life in general - that we decided we owed it to our audience to share. Watch the recording, or read below for excerpts and the
- [Strategic Planning Meeting Essentials Pack](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-strategic-planning-meeting-essentials-pack/) - Creating a strategic plan for your business is a critical task for the leadership of every company. If you don’t decide where you’re headed, you will lead aimlessly. People will follow your direction, but they won’t have context, insight into to your actions, or an understanding of how they can best contribute. Any planning requires
- [How to Lead a Group Discovery Meeting: Facilitation Techniques for Consultants](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/facilitation-techniques-for-consultants/) - Introducing Ingrid Bens The Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest template designer, Ingrid Bens. Ingrid is an award-winning author and facilitator whom we've known for many years. When we heard she had a new book out that included several meeting designs, we couldn't wait to share it here. Read on for more
- [How to Build Professional Bonds With Online Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/build-professional-bonds-with-online-meetings/) - Meetings are an important component of virtually any business. In the past, it was not uncommon for meeting participants to board a plane and fly to another coast or international locations. This was necessary to ensure that all of the company divisions met face to face and were on the same page, but it cost
- [5 Proven Techniques for Better Brainstorming](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-proven-techniques-for-better-brainstorming/) - Meetings bring a group together to quickly discover answers and ideas that no one person can find by themselves. Whether we’re working to negotiate the details of a new project, finding a way to tackle a challenging problem, or seeking to define our strategic vision, the pattern is the same; someone poses a question, and
- [How to Run Kaizen Events to Improve Your Business Processes](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/run-kaizen-events-to-improve-your-business-processes/) - Introducing Dan Prock The Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest template designer, Dan Prock. We met Dan through Ingrid Bens, and quickly realized he had specialized expertise that we were missing. Dan Prock helps businesses of all sizes implement lean practices that help eliminate process wastes and improve operations. Read on to
- [Smarter Meeting Planning: The Process Approach](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/smarter-meeting-planning-the-process-approach/) - How do you go about scheduling a new meeting with a group of people? David Coleman writes about his research into more than 200 meeting scheduling tools in this August, 2016 CMS Wire article, Smarter Meeting Planning Tools Try to Save You the Headache. One of the biggest hassles with meetings is actually setting the
- [Infographic: How Much Are Inefficient Business Meetings Really Costing You?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-much-are-inefficient-business-meetings-really-costing-you/) - More than half of a middle manager’s day is spent in meetings and $37 billion dollars is the very high figure for revenue lost annually due to the time being spent in unproductive meetings. In fact, in the United States alone, 25 million meetings take place every single day. Quick note: the Lucid team's research suggests
- [Creating A Foundation for Changing Your Organization’s Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/creating-a-foundation-for-changing-your-organizations-meetings/) - Many people are unhappy with how their meetings work. Some of these people try to improve their meetings. Of those who try to improve their meetings, a few achieve dramatic results. Sweeping, business-changing, revolutionary improvement. Others make small gains. One or two meetings run better, but the rest never rise above mediocrity. The great majority of
- [Why meet? Understanding the Function of Meetings in the Collaborative Workplace](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-meet-understanding-the-function-of-meetings-in-the-collaborative-workplace/) - When we work in collaboration with other people, we have two things we have to take care of to be successful. The work and the people. In theory, the work should be something we can plan and manage logically. After each piece of work begins, there are a series of tasks to complete and problems
- [Meeting Execution: The Underlying Structure of Meetings that Work](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meeting-execution-the-underlying-structure-of-meetings-that-work/) - Behind every effort to improve an organization’s meetings, you’ll find a larger initiative focused on increasing productivity and improving culture. Organizations that run effective meetings as a matter of course do so because it improves the productivity and cohesion of teams as a whole, in a way that individual productivity improvements can’t match. To maximize
- [How often should you meet? Selecting the right meeting cadence for your team.](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-often-should-you-meet-selecting-the-right-meeting-cadence-for-your-team/) - What is a meeting cadence and why does it matter? In our post about why teams meet, I outlined two basic rules: Meet to maintain momentum. Meet to change course. Kickoffs, retrospectives, emergency meetings, planning sessions, workshops, sales, negotiations - these all fall under the definition of “changing course”. A team’s regularly scheduled meetings should
- [The Surprising Link Between Climate Change and Virtual Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-surprising-link-between-climate-change-and-virtual-meetings/) - In November, I was pleased to be invited to present our advice for running successful virtual meetings to the Government of Alberta as part of their Greening Government Speaker Series. The series goal is to stimulate interest, discussion and action to help governments reduce their carbon footprint and support a sustainable approach to operation. (Learn
- [10 No-Nonsense Tips from No More Boring Meetings""](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/tips-from-no-more-boring-meetings/) - After more than 25 years of facilitating meetings and training groups, Beatrice Briggs, founder and director of the International Institute for Facilitation and Change, believes she's seen almost every group facilitation situation imaginable. Yet, she continues to receive emails from colleagues that surprise her. Numerous facilitators around the world teach managers and teams about the benefits of
- [A New Kind of Icebreaker: Create Meeting Notes Together](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-new-kind-of-icebreaker-create-meeting-notes-together/) - Angela, one of our newest customers, called in with a problem. She’d started using Lucid to organize and run her meetings, and had her team log in too. She felt more organized, and was happy with the automated records she got afterwards, but she wasn’t getting the kind of engagement from the rest of the
- [How To Refresh Your Strategic Plan (in 4 Hours or Less)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-refresh-your-strategic-plan-4-hours-or-less/) - We all know (or should know) that strategic planning is a necessity for business. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there. Updating and ensuring that your plan is still viable is also a necessity. According to an Ernst & Young study, a full 66% of corporate strategy
- [Meeting Design: How to Create Standard Agendas for Your Business](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meeting-design-how-to-create-standard-agendas-for-your-business/) - Are successful meetings what your company sells?Is your non-profit’s mission to help others run more effective meetings? Unless you are a professional facilitator or a meeting software company, the answer is probably “No.” Do you need the meetings you lead to succeed? To help you win sales of the product you sell, and influence those
- [A Mindfulness-Based Technique for Leading Sensitive Discussions](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-mindfulness-based-technique-for-facilitating-a-group-through-a-sensitive-discussion/) - I’m thrilled to introduce Dr. Patricia Thompson to the community of meeting designers and coaches featured on our blog. I first learned about Dr. Thompson and her work through an article she wrote for Harvard Business Review titled How Mindfulness Helped a Workplace Diversity Exercise. In the article, she talks about using mindfulness-based discussion techniques
- [Coping with travel restrictions: When meeting face-to-face matters (and what to do when you can’t)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/coping-with-travel-restrictions-when-meeting-face-to-face-matters-and-what-to-do-when-you-cant/) - Introducing Nancy Settle-Murphy It’s my pleasure to welcome renowned virtual collaboration expert Nancy Settle-Murphy to the blog. Recently I gave a talk about taking government meetings online, and was asked how to succeed when the meeting was particularly sensitive. I didn’t have time to give the question the answer it deserved, so afterwards, I started
- [Case Study: Collaboration Superpowers Uses Lucid Meetings to Automate Workshop Agendas and Keep Participants Engaged](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/collaboration-superpowers-uses-lucid-to-automate-agendas/) - Lisette Sutherland runs Collaboration Superpowers, a workshop facilitation business, from her remote office in the Netherlands. Professional facilitators from all over the world license her materials to teach her Work Together Anywhere Workshop, both online and in person. When preparing for the workshop, Lisette spends a few hours setting up each section by creating an
- [Value Stream Mapping for Knowledge Work and Services](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/facilitating-value-stream-mapping-for-knowledge-work-and-service-organizations/) - Every organization exists to create value. Companies work to create value for customers and stakeholders. Education exists to create value for students and the community. Non-profits create value for members and society at large. Government should create value for the governed. The creation of value is the point, but we all know that it isn't
- [The 4 Meeting Agendas that Drive Strategic Execution (Plus Guidebooks for Each)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/4-meeting-agendas-that-drive-strategic-execution/) - Contents Introduction The Dual Cadence of Leadership Meetings The Leadership Team Meeting Agenda Templates The Operational Management MeetingsDriving Day-to-Day Execution The Daily Huddle The Weekly Leadership Team Meeting The Strategic Management MeetingsDriving the Correct Course of Action Annual Strategic Planning The Quarterly Strategic Refresh BONUS: The Monthly + Anytime Decision Making Meeting How the Leadership
- [How Remote Meetings Can be More Productive For Developers and Designers](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-remote-meetings-can-be-productive-for-developers-and-designers/) - As more and more teams are collaborating remotely, having effective meetings between various stakeholders is key to successful projects. Developers and designers are two core stakeholders in this process. Collaboration between them and the issues surrounding how designers share designs with developers are much talked about and clearly a question that has not been answered
- [A Periodic Table of Meetings (with Free Download)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/periodic-table-of-meetings/) - In the month since we published a taxonomy of the 16 Types of Business Meetings, we’ve heard from many people who say it’s given them a useful new perspective on how to approach their meetings. We’ve also been asked many times about the chart featured in that post, which has since been shared on social
- [Use These 5 Meeting Types to Improve Your Communication with Freelancers](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/use-these-five-meeting-types-to-improve-communication-with-freelancers/) - As your business grows, you have two routes you can take when it comes to staffing: you can hire employees or you can work with freelancers. Many businesses are realizing the benefits of hiring remote employees and freelancers, rather than hiring in-house employees. However, managing a team of freelancers can have its own challenges. Communication
- [The Latte and Learn Community of Practice Meeting (Fast, Easy, Useful)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-latte-and-learn-community-of-practice-meeting/) - Introducing Pilar Orti The Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest template designer, Pilar Orti. We’ve been following Pilar’s work for some time now. She is both a frequent collaborator of Lisette Sutherland’s and the director of Virtual not Distant. While preparing for an interview on Pilar’s podcast, we ran across her blog
- [What Makes a Meeting Worth Attending? (And How to Fix Yours)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/what-makes-a-meeting-worth-attending/) - When asked what they want most from the meetings they attend, people ask for clarity. We asked this question at the start of our most recent meeting survey– “What do you feel makes a meeting worth attending and a good use of your time?” –and the replies included 136 detailed answers to this question. Of
- [How We Created an Open API (and Added 1,000 New Integrations with Zapier)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/lucid-meetings-integrates-with-1000-web-apps/) - Originally Published: July 16, 2016 when Zapier had 500+ Applications! We began planning our public API implementation in late 2015. We had numerous requests for full Read/Write API access to the data model and were responding to stated customer needs. By early 2016 we had the first version of the API tested and preview-ready.
- [How to Create a Decision Matrix with Your Team (and why you need one!)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-create-a-decision-matrix/) - Introducing Tammy SpannThe Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest template designer, Tammy Adams Spann. We first met Tammy at a workshop she and David Spann conducted on decision making in meetings (a topic near and dear to our hearts) where they introduced Eric Coryell's Decision Matrix. We love the clarity the Decision Matrix brings
- [Using Ground Rules to Improve Engagement and Run Excellent Team Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/using-ground-rules-improve-engagement-excellent-team-meetings/) - You get what you tolerate. I’ve heard this adage many times when complaining about my dog’s behavior, and occasionally regarding my children too. The person sharing that wisdom is telling me that my dog’s and my children’s poor behavior persists because I allow it to; because I’m creating the conditions where that kind of thing
- [How to Use Meeting Skills From the Workplace to Improve Conversations With Your Kids](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/use-meeting-skills-to-improve-communication-with-your-kids/) - We said this in our last post and we'll say it again: You get what you tolerate. When you tolerate subpar behavior from your family members, your colleagues or your significant other, that's what you'll get. Meetings, in their truest form, are conversations - and conversations are a constant in our lives. Whether we're at work, with family, or
- [A Guide to Holding Interviews Before a Conflict Resolution](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-guide-to-holding-interviews-to-before-a-conflict-resolution/) - The Lucid Meetings team is thrilled to introduce Tree Bressen. Tree has been blessed with a calling to help groups function well. As a consultant and facilitator, her work focuses on alignment of human action towards purpose. Tree is also the founder of the nonprofit collective producer of Group Works: A Pattern Language for Bringing
- [5 Steps to Improving Engagement in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-steps-to-improving-engagement-in-meetings/) - Note: This post is an excerpt from Chapter 8 in Where the Action Is: the Meetings That Make or Break Your Organization, available now on Amazon.com. Participation propels perceived meeting quality. We call it participation when we are attending a meeting—as in, "I had a chance to participate." Meeting leaders often use the term engagement
- [Meetings and Productivity: Driver or Drain?](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meetings-and-productivity-driver-or-drain/) - Looking at the ROI (Return on Investment) of meetings provides insight into which parts of the business need to take meeting performance more seriously, and which parts are already working well. In a recent webinar (click here to see the recording), I shared the four main areas of organizational performance that are most impacted by
- [Maturing The Meeting Performance Maturity Model](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/maturing-the-meeting-performance-maturity-model/) - The Anna Karenina phenomenon builds on the first line of Tolstoy’s novel, which states: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” When it comes to how an organization meets, we find the opposite to be more true. Unhappy organization are all alike; every happy organization meets in its own
- [Digital Transformation: A Case Study for Improved Community Management](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/digital-transformation-case-study-for-improved-community-management/) - Miawpukek Mi’kamawey Mawi’omi is a First Nation Reserve located at the mouth of the Conne River on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland. Over the years the community has seen a steady growth in government, social reforms, health, education, economic development, culture and traditions. As Systems Analyst and coordinator of a number of
- [Transforming Expertise into Mastery](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/transforming-expertise-into-mastery/) - The Lucid Meetings team is thrilled to introduce Paul Dreyer. Our founder Elise Keith met Paul when visiting Zingerman's. At the time, Paul was visiting Zingerman's to see how they'd evolved their training practice, and Elise was conducting research for Where the Action Is. They got to talking about the Conscious Competence Ladder, a tool they'd both used
- [Going from Good To Great: A Case Study on Improving Meeting ROI](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/from-good-to-great-case-study-on-improving-meeting-roi/) - About iWMS iWMS is an international HighJump software service provider. Since its inception in South Africa 2009, the company has extended its operations into India, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.This global expansion allows iWMS to access the best global resources while also expanding their market share. The combination allows them to blend teams
- [How to Prevent the Opinion Wars That Derail Decision Making](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-prevent-the-opinion-wars-that-derail-decision-making/) - One of the most important reasons for holding a meeting is to make decisions. Yet too often, the decision-making process degenerates into a battle between competing points of view. Participants become polarized, entrenched in their positions and paralyzed by their disagreements. Unable to resolve the conflict, the group often makes a decision that everyone says
- [6 Reasons Most Efforts to Fix a Bad Meeting Culture Fail and How You Can Beat the Odds](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/6-reasons-most-efforts-to-fix-a-bad-meeting-culture-fail-and-how-you-can-beat-the-odds/) - Earlier this week we announced the opening of Meeting School, the world's only online educational marketplace dedicated to meeting skills education. Meeting School offers courses taught by the team at Lucid and by meeting specialists, scientists, and experts from around the globe. At Lucid Meetings, our mission is to make it easy for teams to
- [From the Michigan Woods to Internationally Recognized Facilitator](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/from-the-michigan-woods-to-internationally-recognized-facilitator/) - November 1991. Northern Michigan, almost at the Canadian border. Ten people gathered in a rustic inn for a weeklong training in group facilitation and consensus decision-making. I had recently joined a grass roots, ecological network in which meetings were facilitated and decisions were made by consensus. Until then, my meeting-going experience had been limited to
- [Want Better Engagement in Meetings? Take Some Tips From This Fabulous Ship Full of Nerds](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/want-better-engagement-in-meetings-take-some-tips-from-this-fabulous-ship-full-of-nerds/) - I often find inspiration for better meetings from gatherings outside the business world. I'm curious: what is it that makes someone who grimaces through every meeting pony up good money to gather with other people after work? Why do so many people raise their hands claiming to hate meetings when I speak at meetings they had to pay to attend?
- [Fast, Fun, and Powerful: Design Sprints](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/fast-fun-and-powerful-design-sprints/) - Introducing Douglas FergusonThe Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest contributor, Douglas Ferguson. Douglas Ferguson is the president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based agency that specializes in Innovation Transformation. We were introduced to Douglas through our network as the go-to facilitator to bring in when you want to run a Design Sprint. What's
- [Taking Effective Meeting Notes: Where Technology Meets Organizational Culture](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/taking-effective-meeting-notes-where-technology-meets-organizational-culture/) - I have worked in technology for 10+ years, and have experienced meetings of all shapes and sizes. Interestingly, the types of meetings and ways of conducting meetings have not evolved as quickly as the technology behind meetings. Generally speaking, the meeting starts with the meeting facilitator announcing the agenda. Everyone introduces themselves. Someone is writing
- [A Framework For Productive Consulting Meetings (and Happier Clients)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-framework-for-productive-consulting-meetings-happier-clients/) - Introducing Michael ZipurskyThe Lucid Meetings team is delighted to welcome our newest contributor, Michael Zipursky. Our CEO met Michael when she was interviewed for his Consulting Success podcast. After the interview, Michael shared how implementing the simple meeting process described below helped the consultants he works with reduce drama and retain happy clients.It's a perfect
- [How To Establish an Effective Decision-Making Process for Your Team in 5 Simple Steps](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-steps-to-establishing-an-effective-decision-making-process-for-your-team/) - Many teams lack a clear process for making decisions. Others create decision-making processes that are plenty clear, but take forever. Most employ a confused mix, running some decisions through an agonizing gauntlet of analysis but leaving others up to the leader-of-the-day's whims. These teams waste money and time. They also undermine the group's confidence and
- [The 7 Most Frequently Asked Questions about Leading Engaging Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/7-top-questions-about-leading-engaging-meetings/) - Last week we launched Barbara MacKay's new Meeting School course on How to Lead Engaging Meetings. It's sweet. I took it and learned a bunch of handy new tips, and I had fun too. Barbara's a dynamic, warm presenter and a joy to watch. During the launch webinar, we heard many more questions than we
- [Talking Across Differences](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/talking-across-differences/) - How do you meet respectfully with people you don't understand or agree with? As we go into the holidays and strategic planning season, we have so many opportunities to bridge the chasms between us. But how? We embraced this conversation in a recent webinar. Here you'll find the recording, highlights from our discussion, and loads
- [Why Meeting Flow Models are the Key to Unlocking Your Team's Meeting Success](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/why-meeting-flow-models-are-the-key-to-unlocking-your-teams-meeting-success/) - For every significant goal your company needs to achieve, your team meets. In most companies, these meetings get very little forethought. They're just part of what happens as you do the work. In other companies, teams plan out the meetings they'll use to achieve their goals. They design each meeting, just like they design the
- [The Story Behind Our Meeting Flow Model for Pilot Programs](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-story-behind-our-meeting-flow-model-for-pilot-programs/) - It doesn't matter what kind of team you work on or what you're trying to do - if you can't get that team to all agree and do their part, you fail. Teamwork is the practice of agreeing on a shared goal and then dividing the work required to achieve that goal amongst the team
- [How Coda's Meeting Operating System Ensures Every Conversation Has a Home](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-codas-meeting-operating-system-ensures-every-conversation-has-a-home/) - This blog is full of advice for running a great meeting. Of course, teams don't run just one meeting. Teams run lots and lots of meetings. Now, if you have oodles of spare time, you can design each and every one of your team's meetings from scratch using the advice you'll find here. No one
- [5 Important Meetings For Distributed Customer Support Teams](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-5-best-meetings-for-distributed-customer-support-teams/) - Introducing Mercer Smith-LooperMercer is the Head of Support at Appcues, where she manages an all-remote team of customer support representatives. In this article, Mercer describes the meetings she's found to be most helpful for keeping her team aligned, happy, and productive.— Team Lucid Running a remote team can be challenging. It’s easy for remote teammates
- [The Right Story for Every Meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-right-story-for-every-meeting/) - We've all experienced the power of storytelling. A great story can inspire and move us in ways that spreadsheets or presentations full of bulleted lists never will. We are wired to learn from stories. And yet, only a few rare leaders regularly tell stories in meetings. Most leaders limit themselves to dry information sharing and
- [Resources for Business Teams Coping with COVID-19](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/resources-for-business-teams-coping-with-covid-19/) - On March 12, 2020, we sent a list of 14 resources to our newsletter. Our local government had just banned gatherings of more than 200 people, President Trump had closed the borders, and the NBA delayed their season. Like you, we're suddenly juggling a family at home, an unravelling economy, and the shock of worst-case
- [Meeting in Times of Rapid Change and Crisis](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/meeting-in-times-of-rapid-change-and-crisis/) - On April 1, 2020, we hosted a webinar with principals at the Mission Critical Teams Institute. We explored the communication practices business teams can learn from mission critical teams (firefighters, military, medical, and others who handle emergencies for a living) as we all work to adapt in times of rapid change. Our Guest Presenters Dr.
- [Survey Results: How often do teams meet during a crisis? (Updated July 2020)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/research-meeting-frequency/) - How often should your team meet, and how has that changed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic/economic upheaval? We collected data from teams around the globe to find out! Research Background This isn't a question researchers can easily answer, because the answer depends on so many factors. When we've looked at this question in the
- [Tips for Taking In-Person Training and Workshops Online](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/tips-for-taking-in-person-training-and-workshops-online/) - If you're a trainer, workshop facilitator, faith-community leader, event planner, or consultant, you convene groups for a living. You've probably designed your work assuming you'll be in the same room with the group you're serving. Now, like everyone else, you need to figure out how to deliver your services online. You're working fast and feeling
- [How to Run a Strategic Pivot Meeting with Your Team](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-run-a-strategic-pivot-meeting-with-your-team/) - How is your organization going to survive and thrive in the emerging economy? That's the question on everyone's mind right now. Later when we look back, it will seem so clear. Our grandchildren will shake their heads and say: "If I was alive back then, I totally would have...." And then the smug little darlings
- [Top 5 Tips for Smarter Meetings (Times 12!)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/top-5-tips-for-smarter-meetings-times-12/) - Recently we hosted two online parties where we invited folks to join us in creating a big list of Tip-Top Top Tips for Smarter Meetings. The whole event was an experiment. We wondered: Would it work to combine all these different meeting techniques? How much real value could a group of random strangers create within
- [Case Study: Conservation Colorado Eliminates Employees' Top Complaint](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/case-study-conservation-colorado-eliminates-employees-top-complaint/) - Too much time wasted in unproductive meetings. Ineffective meetings plague companies around the globe, making this a top complaint for employees at every level. Conservation Colorado engaged Lucid Meetings to help them improve their meeting performance, which had been consistently rated the number one problem in their annual employee feedback surveys. I spoke with Nikki
- [Hindsight is 2020: How to Run a Year-in-Review Team Retrospective](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/hindsight-is-2020-how-to-run-a-year-in-review-team-retrospective/) - What happened? So what does that mean? Now what should we do going forward? In a retrospective meeting, you and your team work to answer these three questions together. When you’re reviewing a short event that just happened, your retrospective meeting might be very short as you all simply work to answer these questions directly.
- [5 Rules for Leading Excellent Meetings with Your Team Every Day](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-rules-for-leading-excellent-meetings-with-your-team-every-day/) - Successful businesses do the things that others know they should do …. but generally don’t. ~ Ari Weinzwig's 7th Natural Law of Business So let's talk about those things you need to do to run great everyday business meetings with your teams. And yes, I'm going to share some guidelines you may already know. Hopefully,
- [How to Use Body Language in Virtual Meetings and Interviews](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-use-body-language-in-virtual-meetings-and-interviews/) - Hello friends! Please enjoy this guest post about body language tips from Sharon Koifman, founder and president of distantjob.com. The new normal is now the norm that really isn't new anymore and it's here to stay. All of us are in a much better place, don't you think? No more wasting time on long commutes,
- [How to Give Positive Feedback to Your Team During a Meeting](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-give-positive-feedback-to-your-team-during-a-meeting/) - Hello friends! Please enjoy this guest post about giving positive feedback in meetings from Richard Fendler, a goal-oriented project manager and team leader. Meetings are an opportunity to discuss projects, provide updates, share ideas and make tough decisions. In amongst all this, it is important to remember that they can also be used by managers
- [Reasons to Reconsider How Data Is Shared in Remote Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/reasons-to-reconsider-how-data-is-shared-in-remote-meetings/) - Hello friends! Please enjoy this guest post about information security in meetings from Lisa Michaels, a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland, Oregon. The way we work has changed on a fundamental level. These days, around 56.8% of US employees (or more) are working remotely, and there’s a good chance that the trend for flexible
- [Make Better Decisions Faster by Standardizing Your Decision-Making Criteria](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/make-better-decisions-faster-by-standardizing-your-decision-making-criteria/) - Note: These criteria were originally shared as part of our guide to establishing an effective decision-making process. Have you ever responded to a Request For Proposal (RFP), with its pages and pages of Musts, Shoulds, and Nice to Have selection criteria? Or, let's keep it simple. Have you ever worked with your team to decide
- [5 Ways to Maintain Meeting Schedules With Flexible Work Arrangements](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/5-ways-to-maintain-meeting-schedules-with-flexible-work-arrangements/) - Hello friends! Please enjoy this guest post about establishing meeting schedules in the face of flexible work arrangements from Lisa Michaels, a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland, Oregon. For years, companies have been making the shift towards a more flexible work environment. The cloud and today’s ultra-fast internet connections allow people to stay informed
- [A Technology Platform for Business Meetings (2022 update)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/a-technology-platform-for-business-meetings/) - Last update: Aug 17, 2022 When we conceived of Lucid Meetings, we set out to create a meeting system that embedded the knowledge and processes we'd been exploring into a technology service that organizations could readily adopt; an expert system of sorts to help them avoid much of the pain we'd all experienced in our
- [Proven Step-by-Step Recipes for Hiring, Developing, and Retaining Great People](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/step-by-step-recipes-for-hiring-developing-and-retaining-great-people/) - Right now, many teams are dealing with massive turnover. Reports on the "Turnover Tsunami" and "The Great Resignation" reveal staggering volatility across industries and countries. Have you driven past the restaurants in your area recently? If so, you've seen the desperate billboards advertising hiring bonuses, increased wages, and pleading with customers to forgive their limited services.
- [Interview: US Army Reduces Meetings by 70% While Improving Overall Information Flow](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/interview-us-army-reduces-meetings-by-70-while-improving-overall-information-flow/) - John Antill works as a U.S. Army Expeditionary Civilian Workforce Knowledge Manager. In his pursuit of a Master's Degree at Kent State University, he decided to map the flow of information while working as the Knowledge Manager for Army Joint Force Headquarters Cyber using the military's Operational Management Rhythm approach. He focused specifically on the meetings,
- [Succeeding with the 5 Communication Styles You Find In Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/succeeding-with-the-5-communication-styles-you-find-in-meetings/) - Hello friends! Please enjoy this guest post about communication styles in meetings from Ron Stefanski, website entrepreneur and marketing professor. There are many different ways to communicate in the workplace—each with its own strengths and weaknesses. As a leader, and especially as a meeting leader, your odds of success vastly improve if you're at ease with
- [How to Optimize Your Team’s Information Sharing in Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-teams-information-sharing-in-meetings/) - Meeting overload, zoom fatigue, and too much time wasted in unproductive meetings: these problems grow during periods of rapid change. Bad meetings proliferate when we struggle to communicate well. And when things change rapidly, we need to share more information more often to keep on top of the situation. According to a 2013 study by
- [How to Run Better Planning Meetings](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-to-run-better-planning-meetings/) - I enjoy planning meetings. I also enjoy large, easy jigsaw puzzles. When you know the basic shape you’re going for, and you have a bunch of the pieces handy, it can be quite satisfying to get them to all fit together into a nice, coherent picture. With a jigsaw puzzle, it’s very clear that the
- [The BRIDGeS Rapid Planning Method](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/the-bridges-rapid-planning-method/) - Earlier this year, we were contacted by the team at Railsware about a meeting method they'd developed that they call BRIDGeS. We invited them to share their method here because we think that: This is a great example of the kind of practices teams can develop when they purposefully design their meetings, and It's a
- [How many meetings are there per day in 2022? (And should you care?)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/how-many-meetings-are-there-per-day-in-2022/) - This is a popular search. For those of you building infographics and reports and term papers, here's the bottom line up front. Our 2022 best-guess estimates for the number of meetings per day in the US: 1976: 11 million 2015: 55 million 2020 lockdown: 80+ million 2022: 62 to 80 million For everyone else, read
- [Designing a Thoughtful Return to the Office](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/designing-a-thoughtful-return-to-the-office/) - It looks to me like we've broken work. Not for everyone, and not everywhere, but for a lot of teams the WE part of work isn't working. I know. This isn't new. Work has been kinda broken for a lot of people for a long time. But take it from a lady who deploys lots of
- [3 Beliefs that Trap People in Chronically Bad Meetings (Survey Results)](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/3-beliefs-that-trap-people-in-chronically-bad-meetings-survey-results/) - A lot of people come to me for advice. And sometimes, when I listen to myself talking, I wish I could follow some of it.~ Shah Rukh Khan (aka SRK) in an interview with David Letterman In 2022, we posted a survey asking people for five obvious tips for running better meetings. To reinforce the
- [Flip the Script on Meetings: 3 Ways to Transcend Your Team's Limiting Beliefs](https://blog.lucidmeetings.com/blog/flip-the-script-on-meetings-3-ways-to-transcend-your-teams-limiting-beliefs/) - Do your employees complain about meetings? Have you tried introducing policies or technology to make meetings more effective, only to see bad habits and overloaded calendars quickly return? If so, your colleagues may be trapped by three common limiting beliefs – mental barriers that keep them from realizing the true potential of well-coordinated gatherings. They

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