---
title: Run More Effective Meetings
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2018/program/proposals/486
beginning: '2018-11-09T16:00:00.000-08:00'
end: '2018-11-09T16:20:00.000-08:00'
presenters:
- name: Deb Nicholson
  affiliation: SeaGL
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/32
  gravatar_id: ad818bec4900cb3354d2aa536a7bf207
  biography: Deb Nicholson is a free software policy expert and a passionate community
    advocate. She is the General Manager at the Open Source Initiative which stewards
    the Open Source Definition and works to raise awareness and adoption of open source
    software. She is also a founding organizer of the Seattle GNU/Linux Conference,
    an annual event dedicated to surfacing new voices and welcoming new people to
    the free software community. She lives with her husband and her lucky black cat
    in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
---

Team meetings set the stage for your work as a group, but unfortunately many of us attend meetings that feel like a complete waste of time. Meetings that meander off-topic, that repeatedly drift back to the same unresolved topic, or end up turning into a monologue don't foster great team work. Once poor habits are established, it can feel difficult to reclaim a weekly wasteful meeting.

Luckily, there are ways to gently disrupt disorganized meetings. Either as the meeting convener or as a participant, you have the power to improve the meetings you attend. This talk will teach you how to set the stage for a productive meeting, how to keep a meeting on course and how to politely but firmly handle several common types of meeting derailment. The best part is that the difference is immediately noticeable. Healthy meeting habits are contagious, in the best possible way!
