1. End the meeting at 5 minutes before the hour. Most people have another meeting starting on the hour, and this gives them a shot at transportation and bio-break time.
2. Ask people to turn off phones, laptops, etc directly. If I’m teaching a workshop, I cannot know if the person doing email or texting is making the right decision. I don’t bother to ask. I have asked people to move out of the way if their equipment is in the way of the people working on the simulations. If you are in a meeting and someone else’s behavior is bugging you, talk to that person directly.
3. Keep a parking lot of issues to get back to, and get back to them.
4. Track ongoing action items. Especially if you’re dealing with managers who have too many context switches to enumerate, make it easy for them to see all their action items in one place.

I have a few other rants on other workplace etiquette, such as cell phone conversations in the bathroom (Please, put the phone down. Shut it. Don’t forget to wash your hands when you’re done. Ugh).

Many of my rules arise from the idea that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

I asked what he discussed at his meetings. “Oh, what everyone is doing.” How long are the meetings? “One to two hours.” Oh my. There is a better way.

I told him to cancel his next meeting and conduct one-on-ones with his managers instead if he needed to see status. I also told him it was worth deciding which problems he would try to solve in a group meeting. He’s got too many managers, so he can’t address everyone’s problems in one meeting–and shouldn’t. He needs to have meetings with the relevant people, make sure people discuss and develop an action plan with action items.

If you’re in a similar pickle, thinking you need status meetings, you can reset that thinking right now. Status meetings are not meetings; they are rituals. If your attendees would prefer your ritual meetings with doughnuts or wine or their laptops or cell phones or something else that distracts them from your meeting, it’s time to reconstitute your meeting.

Make your meetings events to solve problems and assign next steps. When you have meetings like that, you do not need buckets at the door. You’ll get done faster, which will help people get to their next meeting on time. (For more information, see chapter 10 in Manage It!, called “Managing Meetings.”)