Can you recall the last time you were imprisoned in a meeting during which you lost all sense of time, could not stop yourself yawning and wished you could get back to your desk and actually do some real work?

Well, I’m sure you’ve all experienced it. Don’t deny it, I know you have - we all have. Every work place I’ve ever been to and every project I’ve worked on, I’ve found them to be unavoidable. For some unknown reason, I’m convinced they exist only to torment us!

On that note, let me introduce Nev n Dave’s guide to a good meeting:

1. Have a clear purpose - What is the meeting about? What are you trying to achieve?
2. Keep things relevant and on topic - Do not over deviate from the agenda. Are the right participants invited?
3. Encourage participation and discussion - Don’t talk too much. Let someone else contribute to the meeting.
4. Keep it short - Get the message across succinctly. End the meeting once the objectives are accomplished.

Do you have a boring meeting experience to share with us?

The office farewell is a ritual in any workplace. It is a time to celebrate someone leaving the “family” and going on to bigger and better things. Often the manager would stand up, make a speech about how so and so have contributed to the organisation and illustrate some of the embarrassing things they might have done during a company function several years ago.

Being a software contractor, and moving from one company or another, you don’t often establish the bond the permie’s have. So the best thing about it, for me, is definitely the free food and drinks.