Have you ever wondered why so many meetings are a complete waste of time and money and do little but irritate the participants? There are a number of ways meetings waste resources and drive people to despair because: they may not start or finish on time; they may not follow a set agenda; too much time is spent on minor issues and little on the major ones; attendees haven't come prepared so time is spent recapping issues; discussions aren't directed to a clear finish point; discussions aren't summarised succinctly; some personalities may dominate so not all participants get to be heard; there is ineffective chairing; extensive minutes are taken and often fail to clearly capture the decisions made, the people responsible for the actions and the deadlines to do things in. Meetings are easily derailed – yet some very simple strategies, applied consistently, can make all the difference.