Making Meetings Work: Achieving High Quality Group Decisions

"Finally, there is a book on meetings that offers concrete tools and techniques to improve the quality of group decision making. In the many executive seminars in which John E. Tropman has presented his research and his recommended approach to meetings, I am consistently impressed with the group′s reaction--that these suggestions can really be applied! Alumni have experienced success with Tropman′s ′agenda bell′ for scheduling the flow of the meeting; elimination of ′reports by function′; and use of ′fraction rules′ to organize and prepare for the meeting and structure it. Whether an organization is implementing a Total Quality initiative or an individual is seeking to improve the quality of decision making in meetings, Tropman′s Making Meetings Work is a valuable resource and a welcome addition to the literature on meetings. --Deborah G. Corsini, The Heinz School, Carnegie Mellon University "A very detailed and in-depth discussion of what makes meetings work well and what usually makes meetings a waste of time. What is particularly helpful is that the author equally addresses pre and post meeting work, an area which managers may often neglect for the sake of time or expediency, particularly evaluation. What is most interesting though is that, while it does reflect upon what does not work in meetings the emphasis is upon using techniques that have been found to produce excellent meetings." --Maggie McCourt-Mooney in Journal of