I recently met with one of the club presidents on our campus. She was discouraged because she would schedule meetings and only half of the club members (officers included) would show up.
"We just can't seem to find a time to get everyone together!" she exclaimed (I like that word...exclaimed).
We were trying to figure out a time where everyone could get together in the same place, at the same time, without having to schedule the meeting for 2AM.
Then, in that moment, the heavens opened and the skies parted (that seems redundant) and I offered this suggestion:
Why not hold your meeting online...say...in a chat room?
That just might work she thought.
And you know what...it did.
Every single one of the members showed up online (where they could download music from Itunes, check their email, and attend a meeting!). They took each item and everyone gave input. And get this...there was no need to take minutes because the entire meeting had been transcribed as the chat room conversation. She just saved the conversation and sent everyone a copy of the file. Simple.
This is a great idea but there are a couple of disclaimers.
1) I wouldn't make this the meeting style of choice. Nothing beats face-to-face conversation. But in a rare circumstance...everybody log in!
2) Make sure you use a chat or messaging service that everyone has access to (AIM, Yahoo, MSN, even Google has Google Chat).
Anyone else have any good ideas on what you can do when you can't get the team together because of everyone's busy schedules?
Leave them in the comments below.
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