Donna McGeorge - The 25 Minute Meeting: Half the Time, Double the Impact

As a leader of busy teams, its important to me to continue finding ways to balance productivity at work with whats important to all of us outside the office life! Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Bill Gates are amongst those that have offered practical tips on how to make meetings more productive, but its trusted team facilitator and workplace performance guru, Donna McGeorge who really brings it altogether in this great read on how to practically reduce the many, many, many, ( many) unproductive hours we spend in meetings for meetings sake. I thought Id hit a personal best getting some of my meetings to 45 minutes but clearly theres room to improve!

Cath Stone, Director Donor Services, Red Cross Blood Service

Immediately useful. At least three changes I can make this week to get more out of the meetings I need to be at, and get out of those I dont.

Anne-Marie Johnson, ACA, GAICD, Director Professional Services

For a large number of modern day executives meetings are a necessary evil whether global, regional or local, conducted face to face or virtually across multiple time zones, meetings are a way of life. Unfortunately, many meetings dont achieve the intended purpose of communication, alignment or execution while wasting valuable time and energy! I applaud The 25 Minute Meeting which tackles not just the why of meetings but also the how of saving 35 minutes per traditional 60-minute meeting!

Daryl Mahon, Vice President Human Resources - Ford Australia & New Zealand, Ford Motor Company

Meetings are a highly luxurious, even decedent way to get work done. When we get a bunch of people together for a chunk of time, we ought to ensure that we maximise this time. But unfortunately, we often dont. We too often get too many people together for too long with no clear focus or process to achieve the outcomes. In The 25 Minute Meeting, Donna McGeorge shows you how to half the length of your meetings, and double their impact. Full of practical strategies that work, this little book packs a big punch. Give this to everyone you meet with and change the meeting culture around you today.

Dermot Crowley, thought leader and best-selling author of Smart Teams and Smart Work

It is rare that you can read a book, immediately apply practical advice tips and tools and change the way you work. If meetings continue to be a drain on your time, give this book a try a great read.

Gayle Antony, General Manager, Global Learning and Development, Nissan Motor Company

The 25 Minute Meeting is the game changer for organisations and leaders to get laser focused on what matters. The default one-hour meetings mean people arent thinking consciously about what the purpose of the meeting is or what the ideal outcome needs to be. In a world of trying to do more with less, The 25 Minute Meeting is the disruptor to create a productive and high performing team.

Jane Anderson, Australias most awarded personal branding expert, author of 5 books, certified speaker, mentor to industry leaders

If you roll your eyes at yet another meeting invite in your calendar. If you leave meetings wondering what the purpose was or questioning what was actually decided. If you would love to have more time in your calendar every week, then Donna McGeorge has the answer. This book is a life changer. Turn painful meetings into purposeful ones with this gem of a book thats jam packed with tips, tools and exercises to make meetings more fun and all about adding value versus becoming a value drain. And even better its a good, quick read that is instantly actionable. An absolute must read.

Janine Garner, networking, collaboration & leadership expert, best-selling author of Its Who You Know

DONNA McGEORGE

First published in 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Ofce also in Melbourne

Typeset in 12/15 pt Bembo Std

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2018

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Wiley

Cover image Barks/Shutterstock

Internal illustrations by Donna McGeorge

Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Donna McGeorge makes work work.

She is passionate about enhancing the large amount of time we spend in our workplace (too much, for many) to ensure it is effective and productive, as well as enjoyable.

Donna has worked with managers and leaders throughout Australia and AsiaPacific for over 20 years. She delivers practical skills, training, workshops and facilitation to corporates such as Nissan Motor Company, Jetstar, Medibank Private and Ford Motor Company so they learn to manage their people well and produce great performance and results.

Her CV reads like her eclectic record collection (yes, classic vinyl): Manager of Theatre, Sports & Concert Tours for the UK-based Keith Prowse; AsiaPacific Organisational Development Manager for Ford Motor Company in Shanghai, China; as well as roles at Telstra, Qantas, Ernst & Young and Ansett.

She lives on 20 acres in Heathcote, Victoria, a region known for its world-class shiraz, but her most creative moments come while sipping tea on her verandah, gazing at the rolling hills, alongside her husband, Steve, and dog, Prudence.

Donna believes that workplaces are complex, but not hard. More often than not its getting the simple things right, consistently, that has the greatest impact.

She also knows that when we decide to be intentional, we can surprise ourselves with what we can achieve. Read on and youll soon see.

www.donnamcgeorge.com

Wow! This has been such an interesting ride and there are so many people who have been part of the journey.

The team at Wiley and what a team! Ingrid and Lucy, you understood my vision for this book and helped me to bring it to life. I am so grateful to you for being part of a turning point in my career and life.

Kelly Irving I could not have written this book without you, particularly in those moments where I was having a bad day and felt like nothing was working. A short text and things got right back on track. Your insight and intelligence are nothing short of extraordinary, along with your direct and on-point feedback.