Re: OverKill
PCG- i know what u mean, I have excused myself from a number of desi groups because they want to meet in devon have dinner and chat. My view is, dude..get a friggin conference call bridge and then have people dial in, have an agenda and times u can stick to so ppl can dial in for their segments only if they want. But then I am told no its very tough and I am being unreasonable.
solution PCG in your case is to have an agenda, have specific time slot for new business, old business, things that ppl want to just instantly brain storm on ad nauseum, put them in a parking lot (as mama said, tell ppl to take i toffline) and make someone incharge of it or leave it to be discussed at the end of the agenda for everyone that wants to do that.
and for every agenda item there needs to be an owner, a next step and a timeline assigned. u will notice that ppl who yip yap a lot may not liek it but usually they are the ones who dont get anything done.