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We complain about time-wasting meetings, but few of us seriously think of cutting them out. We often attend them like lemmings headed for a high cliff.

It's not uncommon for executives to devote more than 70 percent of their day to meetings. A survey done by Heldrick & Struggles, a consulting firm in Chicago, found that 18 percent of CEOs spend more than 30 hours a week in meetings. An additional 25 percent devote 20 to 29 hours weekly to meetings.

Many of those meetings are unproductive. According to a survey by the Wharton Center for Applied Research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, senior managers reported that only 58 percent of their meetings were productive and that 22 percent of the rest could have been handled more efficiently by phone or a memo.

Unproductive meetings drain people's enthusiasm, vigor, and effectiveness. If you misuse people's time in meetings that accomplish little, people will find boundless excuses to stop being involved in church affairs.

Meetings can be productive, however, if they're properly organized and managed with skill. They can be a great tool for disseminating information and generating feedback. And they can foster a feeling of camaraderie that can help launch a new project, such as a capital-building campaign or new daycare ministry.

Meetings that seem to go nowhere and waste everyone's time often suffer from:

Too many people. Without strong leadership and an agenda, meetings can wander. But too many participants can also extend a meeting's discussion and turn it into a meandering time-waster.

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