micksangel
Newbie
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« on: March 05, 2008, 08:41:17 pm » |
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As long as I have been a PA organising meetings has been the bane of my life!. I work for a Director, 2 Assistant Directors and 10 Project Managers - not to mention liaising with outside agencies trying to arrange meetings. You all know the drill I am sure you get almost the whole body of the group and ONE person is missing or one or two pull out and you have to start all over again!!.
If anyone has any tips I haven't thought of to help alleviate the time and energy it takes to arrange meetings I would love to hear from you!!!!.
Thanks
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Katie G
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« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2008, 10:13:49 pm » |
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One thing I've learned is to ask my boss if everyone on the list is critical, or if there are some folks who can either send a proxy, or be brought up to speed at a later date. Sometimes, it causes Boss to stop and think about who he REALLY wants to meet and why. Most of the time, at least one name is knocked off the list. (Oddly enough, often the person who's dropped is the biggest pain to schedule so....  ) |
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jodith
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« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2008, 01:47:22 am » |
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I agree. Knowing who is a mandatory participant and who it's only nice to have makes a real difference. If your organization uses Outlook, and people actually use it to keep their calendars, it makes meetings so much easier to plan. Just plug in everyone's names and look for blank spots in the calendar.
You want to hear meeting horror stories? I used to have to schedule conference calls with folks in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. That's when I discovered timeanddate.com. That made my life a great deal easier.
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raindance
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« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2008, 10:09:48 am » |
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Jodith, thank you very much for that website recommendation. I regularly schedule conference calls with places in the Pacific Ocean, and I have one coming up soon when we (in United Kingdom) are in summer time and they are in winter time. Splendid - we all now know when to phone each other.
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Jackie G
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« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2008, 02:24:51 pm » |
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Agree about finding out who's required. Accept as a fact of life however, that you won't get all of the people most of the time. When you do it's a miracle! Jackie, Peer Moderator www.iqps.org |
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Atlanta Z3
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« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2008, 08:02:20 pm » |
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Is there any chance you can be proactive and suggest that a certain day of the week (or part of day) be kept open for meetings? I know this is a tough sell, but if these meetings are critical it may be a proactive way to get evey one to the meetings.
There is a wonderful (and easy to read) book called "Death by Meeting". Is the meeting really necessary or could a document suffice to get the information to the team? Also are there any ways of combining meetings? If not everyone needs to be in all of the meeting there could be staggered times for staff members to come in and out - this also helps to keep meeting on track and on schedule because the next group will be coming.
I agree outlook is a lifeline IF everyone uses their calendar! Is it possible to make any of the meetings reoccuring - even monthly?
My last suggestion is does everyone have to be present or can they call into the meeting? Granted this is not the best option but at least they will have heard the meeting if maybe not participated in it.
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peaches2160
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« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2008, 03:06:51 am » |
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I too find out who the critical players are and use the 75/25% rule. If 75% of the people can attend, have the meeting. Many times, people can be updated with the meeting minutes later. Of course, it all hinges on by bosses availability.
I appreciate that website as I have to schedule with the US, UK, Canada and Asia on many occassions.
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