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How to Run a Meeting Like Google

By Anthony Cerminaro

This article from BusinessWeek offers the following cure for the ubiquitous, unproductive meetings, drawing on lessons learned from Marissa Mayer, Google's vice-president of search products.

"Mayer holds an average of 70 meetings a week and serves as the last stop before engineers and project managers get the opportunity to pitch their ideas to Google's co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Eight teams consisting of directors, managers, and engineers?all at various stages of product development?answer to Mayer.

"In a shop like Google (GOOG), much of the work takes place in meetings, and her goal is to make sure teams have a firm mandate, strategic direction, and actionable information, while making participants feel motivated and respected. Mayer's six keys to running successful meetings follow:

1. Set a firm agenda...

2. Assign a note-taker...
Google executives are big believers in capturing an official set of notes, so inaccuracies and inconsistencies can be caught immediately.Those who missed the meetings receive a copy of the notes...

3. Carve out micro-meetings.
Mayer sets aside large blocks of time that she slices into smaller, self-contained gatherings on a particular subject or project...That means if she has an employee with an issue that comes up Tuesday, he or she can schedule a 10-minute micro-meeting during Mayer's large time block, instead of waiting for her next 30-minute opening, which might not be available for two weeks.

4. Hold office hours...

5. Discourage politics, use data...

Designs are chosen based on merit and evidence, not personal relationships. Mayer discourages using the phrase 'I like' in design meetings, such as 'I like the way the screen looks.' Instead, she encourages such comments as 'The experimentation on the site shows that his design performed 10% better.' This works for Google, because it builds a culture driven by customer feedback data, not the internal politics that pervade so many of today's corporations.

6. Stick to the clock...

"Please keep in mind that these meeting techniques work well for Google. They may or may not be appropriate for your place of business. But these six keys should give you some new ideas about how to transform your meetings from a waste of time to time well spent."

Full post as published by Bizz Bang Buzz Blawg on January 13, 2009 (boomark / email).