This book provides an up-to-date approach to making meetings more effective by showing readers how to become their own meetings specialists. Within a three-stage framework it shows how to identify and analyze what makes an effective meeting and what causes meetings to fail, how to take practical action to maximize the effectiveness of any meeting, and how to follow through afterwards. Topics include the avoidance of unnecessary meetings, whether, how, when and where to hold meetings, choice of chairperson and secretary and what each should not do, plus a system for setting an agenda, and taking notes and records.