38 brilliant meetings If the answer to any one of the above questions is `no', then the meeting should not go ahead in its proposed format. Bringing people together costs far more than their time alone; the prop- erty costs for meeting facilities, together with any additional travel, accommodation, and refreshments are considerable. If the meeting cannot hope to meet its outcomes then it is better it did not take place. If it were to proceed, what other outcome could there be apart from the well clichéd `meeting about a meeting?' In other words, this can only be at best an ineffective meeting. Ineffective meetings trigger low morale, low pro- ductivity and, if not actively challenged, can easily become the norm, dragging down standards within organisations. Whilst it can be argued that a meeting organiser should not cir- culate an agenda that has no realistic chance of being completed during the meeting, it is also the responsibility of any participant