12 best practices of successful business meetings

Poorly managed meetings have been called the black holes of the work day and can weaken your company’s productivity. According to a worldwide study conducted by Microsoft Corp., business people spend nearly six hours a week in meetings and nearly 70% of the participants reported that their meetings were unproductive.

Too many meetings, lack of preparation, no follow-up and employees zoning out because they’ve lost interest are among the typical problems.

Badly managed meetings can also have a negative effect on employee morale and teamwork. If people routinely arrive late for your meetings, stare at their smartphones and aren’t taking notes, your company has some improvements to make.