ABSTRACT
Meetings, conferences, and other forms of group discussion constitute a significant portion of business people’s workday. Most companies value the many benefits of group communication. When done effectively, participative management-the involvement of people in organi zational decisions-can produce better decisions and higher levels of employee engagement. The major downside of meetings is, of course, their high cost. Bringing groups together (and away from other productive work) can result in countless hours of labor costs. Good communication processes-on the part of leaders and participants-can mitigate these cost expenditures and provide other benefits to organization. This chapter looks at the pros and cons of meetings, describes how to apply the Straight Talk Model, and teaches some simple tactics for maximizing meeting effectiveness.
