Sneaky Tips: a few friendly ‘wisdoms.

Attendance: One of the best ways to confirm whether you have been invited to a meeting just to make up numbers is to fail to turn up then see if anyone noticed your absence or complains about it.

Minute Taking: If you are chairing a meeting and want to ensure proper records are kept of actions agreed etc. then, if it is a meeting of more than 3 people don’t tray to take the notes yourself as it will cause pauses in your chairmanship, look amateur and you may not capture all as you are focus will be on chairing. So, delegate but don’t just point to ‘Fred’ – you need to be sure you pick a person who you know is a stickler for detail and a focused listener and is ‘willing’ to do so: reluctance or inattentiveness are poor supporters of effective minute taking. Best to agree that in advance too.

Contributing: It is always good to make your contribution to a subject you have knowledge of and that progresses a subject but be aware and be prepared for the most obvious consequence. If your point ends up with an action being raised, then the first and most obvious person delegated to it may be you. So, if you are confident, ready and diary enabled to take on an action you know might arise form your comment then fine. Otherwise have a suitably qualified proposal of another person to push the action to. Feedback: Incidentally, the same caveat applies to any post meeting feedback you are asked for.

Meeting Breaks: Try to never leave a meeting during a subject you are involved in – to take a phone call or go to toilet etc. as the gods will be sure to cause an action or two will be sent your way and temporary absence will be taken as acceptance.