Manager Tools has made a great PDF called Effective Meetings Outline. It is a slide show that shows you steps and tips on running an effective meetings. Topics include: Pre-publish an agenda, start on-time, set some ground rules, stick to your agenda, use a parking lot, fix responsibilities, finish on-time, publish minutes, continuously improve, and use a facilitator.
I like the parking lot idea a lot. It is similar to the idea I have talked about on presentation. Parking lot section is for discussing issues/topics that are not on the agenda. All of those non-agenda topics are noted and discuss at the last 5 minutes of the meeting. The purpose of it is to avoid interruption and long non-agenda topics which usually take over the time of the meeting.
Effective Meetings Outline – [Manager Tools]
