How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time

by Milo O. Frank

A guide which aims to put an end to unproductive meetings and accomplish far more in less time. In a "Wall Street Journal" survey, meetings were put top of the list as America's most time-wasting office activity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Management, Self Help

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

Milo O. Frank (1922-2004) was a film and television writer, producer, and magager.

During WWII, he served in the US Marines. After the war, he attended language school in Boulder, Colorado. He worked as a talent agent for the William Morris Agency, then became head of Talent And Casting for CBS Television, and later for Cinerama. In the 1960s, he became a producer of independent movies.

In his later life, he became an author, and wrote "How To Make Your Point In Thirty Seconds." He also worked as a business management consultant.

Reviews

[Emilie Rose Thiessen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. Quick, evening read. Will help me better navigate board meeting within a family business.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated.

[Helene Poppleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny to plunge back into the 80's with enemies to foil in the boardroom and video calls where time literally costs money. But some good practices, nonetheless.

[melhara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever attended a meeting for school, work, or even a family meeting?
If the answer to that is yes, then you should read this book!

Ever attended a meeting that went on for too long? Or a meeting that just felt completely pointless?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then you should read this book!

Ever attended a short and productive meeting and wondered how they managed to pull that off?
Read this book!

How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time is a very short and easy read with plenty of timeless examples and tips for running a productive meeting. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has to organize and run meetings (whether it is for a family meeting, school meeting, work meeting or public meeting).

[Meadhbh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you looking for a book that catalogs a series of best common practices for meetings?

This book may be for you, then.

It's not the be-all, end-all book of how to do meetings, but a solid description of the hows and whys of meetings. It *is* a bit dated, so I would be surprised if you saw it in a shop that sold mostly new books. But if you run across it in a used bookstore, and you're looking for a book like this, then there are definitely worse books you can buy.

Normally I wouldn't even bother with texts like this, but I needed something (written by an expert) that justified my assertion at work that meetings should have:

a. a purpose,
b. a time limit,
c. an agenda.

This book does a decent job of explaining why these three things are critical to not wasting everyone's time.

[Tevilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read on very practical tips on how to run a meeting. It was written in 1989 and all that he writes about still applies to today's world. There isn't any thing on virtual, but the skills translate across different medias. He has some good stories, too.

Highly recommended

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some new tips but not amazing.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read - enjoyed this book and thought it had some great ideas for making meetings shorter and more productive.

[Conrad Toft · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing about the book was its length - short enough to read in a meeting. A few good points but mostly just re-stating the obvious.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little dry and dated. The information is pretty simple and in line with common sense. It's more of a reminder and a check on bad habits during meetings. I'd really only recommend this for people who are in charge of nonproductive meetings.