I’m an account manager. Client relations. Account Executive. Whatever the term you might use in your company, I’m the guy in charge of setting and running meetings with the client.

So, as you can imagine, I spend a lot of time in meetings. On the phone, via videoconferencing or in person, the best meetings have one thing in common: they are productive.

Of course, if meetings are friendly, that is a major plus. But unless everyone walks out of the meeting having accomplished something, no amount of camaraderie will make up for that.

Or, as this article from Inc.com puts it:

No leader + no documentation + no follow up = waste of time. Everymeeting has to have a leader, a stated purpose, a start and end time,
and a valid reason for each and every person to be there. The leader
documents conclusions, plans, action items, whatever, then follows up.