Quick Ideas 92 to 94 group to get its work done, so they tend to be inefficient and waste time. Every meeting should have a time limit. What that limit is depends on how much work the group has to do and how long it could be reasonably expected to accomplish that work efficiently. Either the meeting organizer or the group itself should always set a time limit for a meeting. If you attend meetings that do not have a time limit, sug- gest that the group set one as the meeting starts. Or, suggest that to the organizer in advance. If you organize meetings, try to accurately assess how much time should reasonably be taken to accomplish the tasks for the meeting and set a limit to allow the group to work to a deadline. People are quite a bit more efficient when working against an established deadline. Epilogue In meetings I have organized over the years, I have found that setting a time limit produces high productivity and effi- ciency, and allows the group to get work done in a reason- able time without wasting that time. Those meetings also take less time than others I have attended without time limits. 94 Have an Agenda for Meetings The greatest enemy of any meeting is the lack of an agenda. Of course, an agenda is simply a list of the topics or tasks the group is to accomplish during the meeting created in some logical order. Everyone has a copy and can focus on those specific tasks. 117