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With meetings as with document reviews, it's tempting to include the statement "...if I do not receive your comments by 00/00/00 <if you do not attend>, your satisfaction with the review material as presented will be assumed." This approach can be effective to keep the project moving forward, but it can also be very dangerous because it documents accountability, which is potentially embarassing to slackers who might be in high levels. I use it _very_ sparingly.
When meetings have turned into the Excuse of the Week why people have not done their assigned tasks, management needs to take action. When it's the management giving the Excuse of the Week, well....
It's okay to ask the team members directly: why are we holding this meeting? Is it necessary? Is there a way we can accomplish what we need to accomplish without this meeting? The team then becomes collaborators instead of opponents.
Sometimes the blow-off of a project status meeting is just that -- a pointed reminder that the project manager has no power, no standing, and no respect. When that's the case, the PM has to decide if the paycheck/short commute <or whatever other strange reason has been making them hang around> is worth the price of the ticket.
Dori Green
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