September 17, 2025 • 27 mins
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Have you ever sat through a meeting wondering why you were even there? You're not alone. The average professional spends countless hours in unproductive meetings that drain energy, waste resources, and lead to mediocre outcomes.
As believers in business, we're called to a higher standard. This episode dives deep into how biblical principles can revolutionize your approach to meetings, transforming them from necessary evils into powerful tools for organizational success and spiritual growth.
Drawing from scripture and practical business wisdom, Harold Milby unpacks how servant leadership, good stewardship, and godly excellence apply directly to meeting management. You'll discover why Patrick Lencioni was right when he said, "Bad meetings almost always lead to bad decisions, which is the best recipe for mediocrity"—and how to ensure your meetings produce the opposite result.
The episode explores specific strategies including: defining clear objectives, creating structured agendas, inviting only essential participants, facilitating active engagement, making decisions with accountability, and following up effectively. Each step is grounded in biblical wisdom from passages like Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 15:22, and Matthew 20:26.
For Christian business owners, the episode also addresses how to appropriately incorporate prayer and spiritual elements while respecting legal boundaries and team members who may not share your faith. This balanced approach allows meetings to become ministry opportunities without creating discomfort.
Whether you lead a department, manage a team, or run a company, these principles will help you honor God's gift of time while advancing your organization's mission. Transform your meetings from energy-draining obligations into purposeful gatherings that reflect Christ's love and wisdom in action.
Share this episode with other business leaders you know who might be struggling with meeting effectiveness. Together, we can build a community of professionals who honor God through excellence in every aspect of business.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thanks, kelly, and thanks to all of you that have
decided to download this week'sChristian Business Podcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and each week we discuss
biblical business principles andhow they apply to your business
or maybe your organization ordepartment.
Our vision here at CBC is tohelp you find truly godly
(00:44):
success, or true godly success,by applying these biblical
principles that we talk about.
You know it's my desire todaythat you'll be enlightened,
encouraged and empowered by whatwe talk about today.
Now would you be so kind asjust to share this podcast with
(01:04):
four or five other people andmaybe post the link to this
podcast on your Facebook or yourLinkedIn page?
You know we need your help.
We want you to help us grow theCBC family so that we can help
others, and we have such adesire to help businesses around
the world, and we're sothankful for all the different
countries that tune in anddownload the podcast every week.
(01:27):
And this week I just want togive a big shout out to the
country of Kenya.
You know Kenya is new toChristian Business Concepts, so
we're excited about having Kenyaon board.
So thank you to those of you inthe country of Kenya, and I
also want to say and give a bigshout out to the city of Houston
(01:49):
, texas, right here in theUnited States, for having so
many downloads.
So thank you both and thank youfor making us a part of your
personal growth strategy.
That's so important to us, andwe hope that this podcast helps
you to grow as a person.
That's important to us.
(02:10):
Now in the company spotlighttoday, I want to talk about a
company called WorldwideTechnology.
They're in St Louis, missouri.
David Stewart started thisinformation technology company
in 1990 and now has over $11billion in annual revenue.
(02:31):
That's right, billion with a B.
But yet that's not his greatestaccomplishment.
You know, david, when hestarted the business had such a
heart of a servant leader andfelt we were all put on this
earth to serve other people.
Now he wrote a book calledDoing Business by the Good Book
(02:53):
and he calls serving hisemployees his biggest job as CEO
and owner.
Consequently, worldwideTechnology offers one of the
best benefit packages in theworld and he's also worked hard
at creating a culture whereemployees are just very valued,
(03:16):
and he takes the time to evensign cards for employees'
birthdays and at Christmas.
And worldwide technology theymake Forbes top 100 lists for
being the best place to workyear after year, and you know he
calls it golden rule leadership, and what he's saying is you
(03:38):
know you treat others the waythat you want to be treated and
that's how he operates as aleader.
In his book that we just talkedabout a minute ago, he mentions
52 biblical principles that hehas applied at Worldwide
Technologies, and David is agreat example of godly success
(04:00):
and a godly leader, and we thankWorldwide Technologies for
being that example to all of us.
Keep up the good work.
We really appreciate you guysthere.
So I'm sure all of you have beenin a meeting where you felt
like number one.
You weren't needed.
You didn't need to be in themeeting, or it was boring or it
(04:23):
didn't have any focus and it wasjust not overall, it wasn't
productive.
And I worked for a companywhere 20% literally 20% of my
time 20% of my time was inmeetings, was in meetings and
they lacked agenda, they lackedpurpose, they lacked having the
(04:46):
right people in the meeting.
But as Christian businessleaders, you know we're called
to be stewards, so that meansthat we're called to be good
stewards of our time and ourresources, our relationships.
We're supposed to be wise aboutthat.
We're supposed to reflect God'skingdom and even our
professional lives.
And meetings are really a keypart of business.
(05:09):
It's a key part of operations.
But a lot of times, you knowmeetings are just unproductive.
You know they're just draining.
They're just draining and theydon't only drain us of energy,
but even resources sometimes.
You know so having good,productive meetings is so
(05:30):
important.
You know, patrick Lencioni saidthis.
He said bad meetings almostalways lead to bad decisions,
which is the best recipe formediocrity.
And I think that's true.
I think that's true in everybusiness, every organization.
(05:50):
You know, if you have a badmeeting that leads to bad
decisions, you know, asColossians 3, 23 and 24 reminds
us, that whatever you do, workat it with all your heart as
working for the Lord, not forhuman masters.
It is the Lord, jesus Christ,you are serving.
(06:11):
So we need to approach meetingsas an opportunity, an
opportunity to show excellence,an opportunity to really be
productive and really kind of anopportunity to serve God
through excellence and throughservant leadership.
And you know the Bible's got alot to say about meetings.
You know there's great examplesthroughout the Word about
(06:35):
meetings that took place andthey were very important
meetings.
But you know, proverbs 15.22says Plans fail for lack of
counsel, but with many advisorsthey succeed.
So meetings can be veryproductive.
They can be.
It doesn't mean that they allare because, like I said, we all
(06:57):
know meetings that are not.
But you know we think aboutgetting input from people,
getting input from others, sothat we can prepare for that
meeting and be very thoughtfulabout preparing.
You know the Bible saysEphesians 5, 15, and 16, it says
(07:18):
but be very careful then howyou live, not as unwise but as
wise, making the most of everyopportunity.
You know we've got to valueeverybody's time.
You know we all have 24 hoursin a day and that's all we have.
We don't have less than that,we don't have more than that.
We have 24 hours.
(07:38):
So it's important that we be agood steward of our time.
And Ephesians 4 and 3 says makeevery effort to keep the unity
of the spirit through the bondof peace.
So we need to have unity andrespect, you know, during these
meetings and we've got toencourage participation, and so
(08:00):
that's important.
Another passage in Matthew,chapter 20, verses 26,.
It says whoever wants to becomegreat among you must be your
servant.
So servant leadership isimportant and so you need to
lead meetings that empowersother people.
We're not leading a meeting totry to dominate.
(08:22):
That's not what we're trying todo.
We should be leading meetingsto empower other people.
And Proverbs 16 and 3 sayscommit to the Lord whatever you
do, and he will establish yourplans.
So we need to make sure that wehave dependence on prayer.
We need to be dependent uponprayer, connecting with God,
(08:43):
getting his mind, getting hisdirection.
We need to be able to do that,especially when we do these
meetings.
So when we weave in and outthese principles that we're
going to talk about today, Ithink your meetings are going to
be much more effective and muchmore powerful.
So what do we need to do?
First, I think you've got toprepare for the meeting.
(09:05):
So it's got to be intentional.
You've got to intentionallyprepare for the meeting.
You know poor planning, it justabsolutely wastes time and it
really dishonors your team.
So you definitely want toprepare.
And how do you do that?
Well, first of all, you shoulddefine very clear objectives.
(09:26):
You know what is the purpose.
Is it going to be decisionmaking or is it brainstorming or
just getting updates?
But you need to know what thepurpose of the meeting is what
are the clear objectives of thismeeting?
You know Steve Maraboli saidit's a lack of clarity that
creates chaos and frustration.
(09:47):
Those emotions are poison toany living goal.
So it's important that weunderstand that we've got to
provide clear objectives.
You know, in Nehemiah, chapter2 and verses 17 and 18, you know
Nehemiah, he sets a vision forthe meeting.
(10:07):
You know he sets that a very,very clear vision for what he's
trying to accomplish.
And you've heard me talk aboutNehemiah when I talk about
vision, and vision is soimportant, and you should follow
the vision, the overall visionthat you have, even in your
meetings.
Now let me give you just alittle tip, though Make sure
that you limit your objectivesin any given meeting to three to
(10:32):
five at the most, and that'sjust to help you stay focused.
You know I try to stay at three, three objectives at the most
for any given meeting.
Now the next thing that youshould do to prepare is create
some type of a structured agenda.
You embarking on across-country road trip without
(10:57):
a map or no GPS, and you couldbe wandering around, you're
going to be wasting fuel, you'regoing to miss your destination
entirely.
So a meeting is like a roadmap,a meeting agenda.
I should say it's like aroadmap.
It's guiding the team throughthe discussion with clear mile
(11:21):
markers.
We'll say these are the topicsand your estimated times, and
we'll consider that to be like apit stop when you're on a long
journey, a long trip, and thenthere's the final destination
and that's your objective.
So without it, without this map, without it, your conversations
(11:43):
are going to veer.
Off course, you're going towaste a lot of time and energy.
You know, just as Proverbs 16and 3 urges us to commit our
plans to the Lord for success, avery well-planned agenda will
help us and ensure that ourmeetings stay very purposeful
(12:03):
and then honor God's gift oftime Because, like I said, we've
got 24 hours in a day.
You can't stretch it, you can'tmanage it and get more.
It's 24 hours in a day.
It's coming whether you like itor not, 24 hours in a day.
So you want to have a reallyclear agenda, include your time
allocations, who's going to beresponsible for this portion of
(12:26):
the meeting.
And then you need to make sureyou send this out at least a day
or two days in advance, beforethe meeting, so other people can
get prepared.
So you know, an example agendamay be something like if you're
going to pray, if you pray inyour meetings, at work or in
your organizations, then youwould say opening prayer, okay,
(12:50):
that'd be your first fiveminutes and then review the
objectives.
What are they?
Okay, so you allow two minutesfor that.
And then you've got topicnumber one and you give 15
minutes to that and you put whoit's going to be led by.
And then topic number two whatis its description?
You're going to give 20 minutesfor that one and it's going to
(13:11):
be led by somebody else.
And then you want to haveaction items reviewed.
So as you look at topic one,topic two hopefully you have
action items that come from thatand so you want to review those
action items one last timebefore you dismiss the meeting.
Allow yourself 10 minutes forthat one.
So this just gives you an ideaof a template.
(13:33):
It could be something that youcome up with, but what you want
to do is make sure that you havean agenda template and you set
time limits and you put downwho's going to lead those, and
people who come into thosemeetings that are going to lead
a specific topic need tounderstand what the time limits
are and they need to stay withinthose parameters.
(13:54):
So then, after that, you've gotto invite the right people.
So you've got to make sure thatyou only include those people
that are essential to theobjectives, and you've got to
respect that time.
You know, the Bible says inPsalms 90 and 12, it says teach
us to number our days.
We've got to make sure thatwe're not wasting time for other
people, so you may have toconsider virtual options.
(14:17):
Maybe they can't all come inthe same room.
That's another thing that justcame to my head.
You've got to think aboutvirtual options for your
meetings and then make sure thatyou have all the necessary
materials.
As you're preparing, you know,make sure you get the right
reports, the right tools, andyou know you've got to have all
that gathered together.
And then you've got to set theenvironment.
(14:40):
You've got to choose a reallygood space, whether it be for
virtual meetings or what haveyou.
You should test the technologythat you're going to be using,
whether it's a laptop for aPowerPoint or whatever it is.
You want to get there in timeto make sure that you get all
that set up and you're notwasting time.
And so you've got to do that.
So now it comes to you prepared.
(15:02):
Now you've got to conduct themeeting itself.
So how do you do that?
What's the best way?
Because, again, we're talkingabout having an effective
meeting, not an ineffectivemeeting.
We want it to be effective, wewant it to be productive, you
know, and bring forth fruitright.
So you've got to make sure thatyou do that specifically, and
(15:23):
there's some principles here Ican give you.
So, first of all, start on time.
Please Begin promptly.
That honors everybody andeverybody's commitment.
Again, if you're going to openin prayer, open in prayer, and
then you want to make sure, ifyou're the one leading the
meeting, you want to make surethat you facilitate that meeting
(15:45):
, but very actively do that.
In other words, stick to theagenda.
Off-topic conversations,redirect it, get back on topic.
I can remember being in ameeting and multiple times, not
just one time and then there'dbe two people in the meeting
that had 10 people in themeeting, and these two people
(16:06):
would begin discussing a topicthat really should have been
discussed at another time, justbetween them, and we were all
there just kind of shaking ourheads like why are we here?
These two people should behaving a meeting that has
nothing to do with us.
So stick to the agenda and youwant to make sure that you
encourage participation.
(16:27):
You know, if you got somepeople who just don't ever give
input during a meetingouragethose people, you know, for
their input Because you want tocreate unity.
You know Henry Ford said comingtogether is the beginning,
keeping together is progress,working together is success, and
(16:48):
I love that quote.
I use it frequently, but that'sa great quote from Henry Ford.
So also use time checks.
In other words, if somebody'smaking a presentation, you can
say, or if you're in the middleof a conversation, you can say
hey, look, we got 10 minutesleft for this topic.
It's so that people understandhey, stop getting off on rabbit
(17:09):
trails, stay focused.
And then next what you want todo is you want to promote this
very kind of a healthy, healthydialogue.
You know you want to be veryactive in your listening.
You want to, you want towelcome a lot of different
perspectives, you know, and youwant to listen to those people
(17:31):
very attentively.
You know Proverbs 18, 13 saysto answer before listening.
Yeah, that is folly and shame,and so we need to make sure that
we're listening and then makesure, if you have conflicts in
that meeting.
Make sure you handle thoseconflicts.
Handle them biblically, butmake sure you handle them.
And so you've got to make surethat you do that.
(17:52):
And then you've got to makedecisions and assign actions.
You know, summarize a lot ofthe key points or maybe some of
the decisions that were made andthen kind of go over again
about those decisions that weremade and then assign some
actions to certain people thatthey've got to get done.
You know, brian Tracy said thatdecisiveness is a
(18:14):
characteristic of highperforming men and women.
Almost any decision is betterthan no decision at all.
So you've got to make sure thatyou've made some decisions
during this meeting.
There's nothing worse thanhaving a meeting and not coming
away with anything that's goingto change or anything that's
supposed to be done.
So make sure that you have yourkey points and the decisions
(18:46):
and the decisions.
And then you assign those clearaction items with people and
make sure you know what thedeadlines are.
For example, oh, john, he'sgoing to research our vendors by
Friday.
Okay, so you've got a time onthere, you know who it is and
you know what he's assigned todo.
So make sure that you do thatand then make sure that you end
on time, because a lot of peoplethey've already gotten plans
and made plans for the day afterthe meeting.
(19:09):
So if you don't end on time, itthrows their schedule off.
Please be aware of that.
You know Jeff Weiner.
He's a former CEO of LinkedIn.
He said meetings should onlylast as long as it takes to get
the business done.
So and that's it.
You get business done, you getdone, get out of that meeting.
You're done.
So then close it with prayer.
(19:30):
If you pray, like I said, thankGod for his guidance and then
you know, recap, recap what youtalked about right before that.
You pray, recap, recap what youtalked about right before that.
You pray and make sure that youall are comfortable with what
the next steps are, and then youneed to follow up.
Follow up after the meeting.
(19:52):
So maybe you want to send theminutes of that meeting.
Make sure that you track theprogress, follow up on any kind
of action items, either by emailor whatever tools that you like
for sharing documents orwhatever.
But you've got to make sure thatyou hold everybody accountable.
(20:12):
People have to be heldaccountable if they are assigned
an action item.
Make sure that they understandthat and then begin to evaluate
and improve.
You know, get some feedback.
What worked well, what didn'twork well, you know, look at
your own self and just kind ofreflect.
You know, personally, you knowhow did this meeting go, how
(20:35):
well was this meeting handled,how well did people walk away
from this meeting and know whatwas assigned and to who, and I
think that's important.
So let me give you some quickdo's and don'ts.
So do set and respect timelimits.
We talked about that.
Do encourage inclusivity.
(20:55):
So make sure that you'reinclusive, right, value
everybody's voice and make surethat you do that.
And then do focus on solutions.
Okay, so, yeah, you may havechallenges.
You're talking about those,you're dealing with those, but
let's focus on the solutions,not the problem.
Document everything.
Do document everything that'simportant.
(21:17):
It keeps transparency there,there's accountability there.
But make sure that you documenteverything that's important.
It keeps transparency there,there's accountability there.
But make sure that you documenteverything and then lead with a
servant's heart.
Put other people's needs first,try to do that to the best of
your ability, but be a servantleader.
Now, what are the don'ts?
Well, first of all, don'tmultitask.
In other words, don't belooking at your phone, looking
(21:39):
at emails at the same timeyou're in this meeting.
Make sure you give your fullattention.
Give your full attention in themeeting.
Don't allow domination, inother words, don't allow any one
person to take over the meetingand talk all the time.
Don't ignore conflicts.
If there's conflicts, you gotto address them, you got to deal
(22:01):
with them, and right away.
Um, don't skip your preparation.
That's so important.
Don't skip your preparation.
Don't forget your follow-up,that's important.
And uh, don't, uh, you know,don't neglect spiritual
integration either.
You know meetings are ministryopportunities.
If you own the business andyou're a Christian leader, you
(22:25):
have a great opportunity to haveministry opportunities within
that meeting.
Now again, you can be aChristian business owner and you
can pray in meetings, but youcan't force people to
participate in anything that's aspiritual exercise, whether it
(22:46):
be prayer, whether it be Biblereading or whatever.
You can't force them legally.
Can you do it legally?
Yes, you can, absolutely.
You have a right and that isprotected under the Civil Rights
Act, and so you do have certainrights.
So make sure that you let thosepeople know.
If you have people that may notwant to be a part of it, say,
(23:07):
look, we're going to open themeeting in prayer.
If you want to step outsidewhile we do that, Phil, you're
more than welcome to.
Or if you want to, you can sitin here silently.
So whatever you feelcomfortable with, you're not
forced to be in here while wepray, and you do the same thing
at the end of the meeting.
So I think those things areimportant for us to understand,
you know, because, as Christianbusiness leaders, productive
(23:29):
meetings are more thanefficiency.
They're bigger than that.
They're really a platform todemonstrate Christ's love, his
wisdom, his leadership, and whenyou apply these principles
today that we've been talkingabout, I believe that you'll not
only boost business outcomes,but also you'll inspire your
(23:52):
team towards some really godlyexcellence.
So commit to continualimprovement with regards to
having effective meetings withinyour organization.
Pray for God's guidance and hiswisdom in every meeting that
you have prior to that meeting.
Uh, it's so important becausemeetings are such an integral
(24:16):
part of business growth,business development.
Um, uh, it's so important.
But we just need to haveproductive meetings.
And I'll tell you, sometimesyou're better to have more
frequent, shorter meetings thanyou are to have a big span of
(24:38):
time between meetings, becausethen you're forced to cover so
much in one big meeting and it'svery discouraging.
So much in one big meeting, itis very discouraging.
So, what you want to do, you'rebetter off to have multiple
meetings for these things let'ssay that it lasts only 45
minutes than to have athree-hour meeting that you have
(24:59):
once a month.
So have more frequent meetings.
They can be shorter, but havethem more.
You know more frequentlysometimes.
But don't get me wrong, I'm notbig on having meeting after
meeting after meeting aftermeeting.
I think it's important that wemeet, especially for
brainstorming.
I think it's important to meetfor the direction of certain
(25:21):
departments or certain things.
You know there's some positivereasons why you need to have a
meeting, but I am definitely notinto having so many meetings
that you can't get anything done.
So you need to be very careful,make sure that you limit the
number of meetings that you have, make sure you invite the right
people so that they don't feelyou know that they're wasting
(25:42):
their time.
That's very discouraging andjust make sure that you follow
these principles that we talkedabout today.
All right, lord, we thank youfor helping us understand the
importance of having productiveand very purposeful meetings.
Lord, we're to be good stewardsof our time and other people's
(26:03):
times that work with us, workfor us.
Lord, help us to apply theseprinciples in our businesses, in
our departments and even in ourpersonal lives.
Lord, we thank you for that.
Help us to be good stewards,lord, even of our time and
others, and Lord, we thank youfor that.
We praise you for it In Jesus'name, amen.
(26:25):
Well, thanks to everyone who haslistened to today's podcast,
today's Christian BusinessConcepts podcast, and make sure
that you tell others, you sharewith others, about Christian
Business Concepts and thepodcast.
And if there's any way that wecan be a blessing to you, reach
out to us.
We're here.
We want to help.
(26:45):
We want to be a part ofChristian businesses around the
world.
Well, it looks like we're outto us.
We're here.
We want to help.
We want to be a part ofChristian businesses around the
world.
Well, it looks like we're outof time.
So until next week.
Remember that Jesus is Lord andhe wants you blessed.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Go toChristianBusinessConceptscom for
more information and resources.
Be sure to check out otherpodcasts that will help you take
your business and your personallife to a whole new level of
success.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, haroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thanks, kelly, and thanks to all of you that have
decided to download this week'sChristian Business Podcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and each week we discuss
biblical business principles andhow they apply to your business
or maybe your organization ordepartment.
Our vision here at CBC is tohelp you find truly godly
(00:44):
success, or true godly success,by applying these biblical
principles that we talk about.
You know it's my desire todaythat you'll be enlightened,
encouraged and empowered by whatwe talk about today.
Now would you be so kind asjust to share this podcast with
(01:04):
four or five other people andmaybe post the link to this
podcast on your Facebook or yourLinkedIn page?
You know we need your help.
We want you to help us grow theCBC family so that we can help
others, and we have such adesire to help businesses around
the world, and we're sothankful for all the different
countries that tune in anddownload the podcast every week.
(01:27):
And this week I just want togive a big shout out to the
country of Kenya.
You know Kenya is new toChristian Business Concepts, so
we're excited about having Kenyaon board.
So thank you to those of you inthe country of Kenya, and I
also want to say and give a bigshout out to the city of Houston
(01:49):
, texas, right here in theUnited States, for having so
many downloads.
So thank you both and thank youfor making us a part of your
personal growth strategy.
That's so important to us, andwe hope that this podcast helps
you to grow as a person.
That's important to us.
(02:10):
Now in the company spotlighttoday, I want to talk about a
company called WorldwideTechnology.
They're in St Louis, missouri.
David Stewart started thisinformation technology company
in 1990 and now has over $11billion in annual revenue.
(02:31):
That's right, billion with a B.
But yet that's not his greatestaccomplishment.
You know, david, when hestarted the business had such a
heart of a servant leader andfelt we were all put on this
earth to serve other people.
Now he wrote a book calledDoing Business by the Good Book
(02:53):
and he calls serving hisemployees his biggest job as CEO
and owner.
Consequently, worldwideTechnology offers one of the
best benefit packages in theworld and he's also worked hard
at creating a culture whereemployees are just very valued,
(03:16):
and he takes the time to evensign cards for employees'
birthdays and at Christmas.
And worldwide technology theymake Forbes top 100 lists for
being the best place to workyear after year, and you know he
calls it golden rule leadership, and what he's saying is you
(03:38):
know you treat others the waythat you want to be treated and
that's how he operates as aleader.
In his book that we just talkedabout a minute ago, he mentions
52 biblical principles that hehas applied at Worldwide
Technologies, and David is agreat example of godly success
(04:00):
and a godly leader, and we thankWorldwide Technologies for
being that example to all of us.
Keep up the good work.
We really appreciate you guysthere.
So I'm sure all of you have beenin a meeting where you felt
like number one.
You weren't needed.
You didn't need to be in themeeting, or it was boring or it
(04:23):
didn't have any focus and it wasjust not overall, it wasn't
productive.
And I worked for a companywhere 20% literally 20% of my
time 20% of my time was inmeetings, was in meetings and
they lacked agenda, they lackedpurpose, they lacked having the
(04:46):
right people in the meeting.
But as Christian businessleaders, you know we're called
to be stewards, so that meansthat we're called to be good
stewards of our time and ourresources, our relationships.
We're supposed to be wise aboutthat.
We're supposed to reflect God'skingdom and even our
professional lives.
And meetings are really a keypart of business.
(05:09):
It's a key part of operations.
But a lot of times, you knowmeetings are just unproductive.
You know they're just draining.
They're just draining and theydon't only drain us of energy,
but even resources sometimes.
You know so having good,productive meetings is so
(05:30):
important.
You know, patrick Lencioni saidthis.
He said bad meetings almostalways lead to bad decisions,
which is the best recipe formediocrity.
And I think that's true.
I think that's true in everybusiness, every organization.
(05:50):
You know, if you have a badmeeting that leads to bad
decisions, you know, asColossians 3, 23 and 24 reminds
us, that whatever you do, workat it with all your heart as
working for the Lord, not forhuman masters.
It is the Lord, jesus Christ,you are serving.
(06:11):
So we need to approach meetingsas an opportunity, an
opportunity to show excellence,an opportunity to really be
productive and really kind of anopportunity to serve God
through excellence and throughservant leadership.
And you know the Bible's got alot to say about meetings.
You know there's great examplesthroughout the Word about
(06:35):
meetings that took place andthey were very important
meetings.
But you know, proverbs 15.22says Plans fail for lack of
counsel, but with many advisorsthey succeed.
So meetings can be veryproductive.
They can be.
It doesn't mean that they allare because, like I said, we all
(06:57):
know meetings that are not.
But you know we think aboutgetting input from people,
getting input from others, sothat we can prepare for that
meeting and be very thoughtfulabout preparing.
You know the Bible saysEphesians 5, 15, and 16, it says
(07:18):
but be very careful then howyou live, not as unwise but as
wise, making the most of everyopportunity.
You know we've got to valueeverybody's time.
You know we all have 24 hoursin a day and that's all we have.
We don't have less than that,we don't have more than that.
We have 24 hours.
(07:38):
So it's important that we be agood steward of our time.
And Ephesians 4 and 3 says makeevery effort to keep the unity
of the spirit through the bondof peace.
So we need to have unity andrespect, you know, during these
meetings and we've got toencourage participation, and so
(08:00):
that's important.
Another passage in Matthew,chapter 20, verses 26,.
It says whoever wants to becomegreat among you must be your
servant.
So servant leadership isimportant and so you need to
lead meetings that empowersother people.
We're not leading a meeting totry to dominate.
(08:22):
That's not what we're trying todo.
We should be leading meetingsto empower other people.
And Proverbs 16 and 3 sayscommit to the Lord whatever you
do, and he will establish yourplans.
So we need to make sure that wehave dependence on prayer.
We need to be dependent uponprayer, connecting with God,
(08:43):
getting his mind, getting hisdirection.
We need to be able to do that,especially when we do these
meetings.
So when we weave in and outthese principles that we're
going to talk about today, Ithink your meetings are going to
be much more effective and muchmore powerful.
So what do we need to do?
First, I think you've got toprepare for the meeting.
(09:05):
So it's got to be intentional.
You've got to intentionallyprepare for the meeting.
You know poor planning, it justabsolutely wastes time and it
really dishonors your team.
So you definitely want toprepare.
And how do you do that?
Well, first of all, you shoulddefine very clear objectives.
(09:26):
You know what is the purpose.
Is it going to be decisionmaking or is it brainstorming or
just getting updates?
But you need to know what thepurpose of the meeting is what
are the clear objectives of thismeeting?
You know Steve Maraboli saidit's a lack of clarity that
creates chaos and frustration.
(09:47):
Those emotions are poison toany living goal.
So it's important that weunderstand that we've got to
provide clear objectives.
You know, in Nehemiah, chapter2 and verses 17 and 18, you know
Nehemiah, he sets a vision forthe meeting.
(10:07):
You know he sets that a very,very clear vision for what he's
trying to accomplish.
And you've heard me talk aboutNehemiah when I talk about
vision, and vision is soimportant, and you should follow
the vision, the overall visionthat you have, even in your
meetings.
Now let me give you just alittle tip, though Make sure
that you limit your objectivesin any given meeting to three to
(10:32):
five at the most, and that'sjust to help you stay focused.
You know I try to stay at three, three objectives at the most
for any given meeting.
Now the next thing that youshould do to prepare is create
some type of a structured agenda.
You embarking on across-country road trip without
(10:57):
a map or no GPS, and you couldbe wandering around, you're
going to be wasting fuel, you'regoing to miss your destination
entirely.
So a meeting is like a roadmap,a meeting agenda.
I should say it's like aroadmap.
It's guiding the team throughthe discussion with clear mile
(11:21):
markers.
We'll say these are the topicsand your estimated times, and
we'll consider that to be like apit stop when you're on a long
journey, a long trip, and thenthere's the final destination
and that's your objective.
So without it, without this map, without it, your conversations
(11:43):
are going to veer.
Off course, you're going towaste a lot of time and energy.
You know, just as Proverbs 16and 3 urges us to commit our
plans to the Lord for success, avery well-planned agenda will
help us and ensure that ourmeetings stay very purposeful
(12:03):
and then honor God's gift oftime Because, like I said, we've
got 24 hours in a day.
You can't stretch it, you can'tmanage it and get more.
It's 24 hours in a day.
It's coming whether you like itor not, 24 hours in a day.
So you want to have a reallyclear agenda, include your time
allocations, who's going to beresponsible for this portion of
(12:26):
the meeting.
And then you need to make sureyou send this out at least a day
or two days in advance, beforethe meeting, so other people can
get prepared.
So you know, an example agendamay be something like if you're
going to pray, if you pray inyour meetings, at work or in
your organizations, then youwould say opening prayer, okay,
(12:50):
that'd be your first fiveminutes and then review the
objectives.
What are they?
Okay, so you allow two minutesfor that.
And then you've got topicnumber one and you give 15
minutes to that and you put whoit's going to be led by.
And then topic number two whatis its description?
You're going to give 20 minutesfor that one and it's going to
(13:11):
be led by somebody else.
And then you want to haveaction items reviewed.
So as you look at topic one,topic two hopefully you have
action items that come from thatand so you want to review those
action items one last timebefore you dismiss the meeting.
Allow yourself 10 minutes forthat one.
So this just gives you an ideaof a template.
(13:33):
It could be something that youcome up with, but what you want
to do is make sure that you havean agenda template and you set
time limits and you put downwho's going to lead those, and
people who come into thosemeetings that are going to lead
a specific topic need tounderstand what the time limits
are and they need to stay withinthose parameters.
(13:54):
So then, after that, you've gotto invite the right people.
So you've got to make sure thatyou only include those people
that are essential to theobjectives, and you've got to
respect that time.
You know, the Bible says inPsalms 90 and 12, it says teach
us to number our days.
We've got to make sure thatwe're not wasting time for other
people, so you may have toconsider virtual options.
(14:17):
Maybe they can't all come inthe same room.
That's another thing that justcame to my head.
You've got to think aboutvirtual options for your
meetings and then make sure thatyou have all the necessary
materials.
As you're preparing, you know,make sure you get the right
reports, the right tools, andyou know you've got to have all
that gathered together.
And then you've got to set theenvironment.
(14:40):
You've got to choose a reallygood space, whether it be for
virtual meetings or what haveyou.
You should test the technologythat you're going to be using,
whether it's a laptop for aPowerPoint or whatever it is.
You want to get there in timeto make sure that you get all
that set up and you're notwasting time.
And so you've got to do that.
So now it comes to you prepared.
(15:02):
Now you've got to conduct themeeting itself.
So how do you do that?
What's the best way?
Because, again, we're talkingabout having an effective
meeting, not an ineffectivemeeting.
We want it to be effective, wewant it to be productive, you
know, and bring forth fruitright.
So you've got to make sure thatyou do that specifically, and
(15:23):
there's some principles here Ican give you.
So, first of all, start on time.
Please Begin promptly.
That honors everybody andeverybody's commitment.
Again, if you're going to openin prayer, open in prayer, and
then you want to make sure, ifyou're the one leading the
meeting, you want to make surethat you facilitate that meeting
(15:45):
, but very actively do that.
In other words, stick to theagenda.
Off-topic conversations,redirect it, get back on topic.
I can remember being in ameeting and multiple times, not
just one time and then there'dbe two people in the meeting
that had 10 people in themeeting, and these two people
(16:06):
would begin discussing a topicthat really should have been
discussed at another time, justbetween them, and we were all
there just kind of shaking ourheads like why are we here?
These two people should behaving a meeting that has
nothing to do with us.
So stick to the agenda and youwant to make sure that you
encourage participation.
(16:27):
You know, if you got somepeople who just don't ever give
input during a meetingouragethose people, you know, for
their input Because you want tocreate unity.
You know Henry Ford said comingtogether is the beginning,
keeping together is progress,working together is success, and
(16:48):
I love that quote.
I use it frequently, but that'sa great quote from Henry Ford.
So also use time checks.
In other words, if somebody'smaking a presentation, you can
say, or if you're in the middleof a conversation, you can say
hey, look, we got 10 minutesleft for this topic.
It's so that people understandhey, stop getting off on rabbit
(17:09):
trails, stay focused.
And then next what you want todo is you want to promote this
very kind of a healthy, healthydialogue.
You know you want to be veryactive in your listening.
You want to, you want towelcome a lot of different
perspectives, you know, and youwant to listen to those people
(17:31):
very attentively.
You know Proverbs 18, 13 saysto answer before listening.
Yeah, that is folly and shame,and so we need to make sure that
we're listening and then makesure, if you have conflicts in
that meeting.
Make sure you handle thoseconflicts.
Handle them biblically, butmake sure you handle them.
And so you've got to make surethat you do that.
(17:52):
And then you've got to makedecisions and assign actions.
You know, summarize a lot ofthe key points or maybe some of
the decisions that were made andthen kind of go over again
about those decisions that weremade and then assign some
actions to certain people thatthey've got to get done.
You know, brian Tracy said thatdecisiveness is a
(18:14):
characteristic of highperforming men and women.
Almost any decision is betterthan no decision at all.
So you've got to make sure thatyou've made some decisions
during this meeting.
There's nothing worse thanhaving a meeting and not coming
away with anything that's goingto change or anything that's
supposed to be done.
So make sure that you have yourkey points and the decisions
(18:46):
and the decisions.
And then you assign those clearaction items with people and
make sure you know what thedeadlines are.
For example, oh, john, he'sgoing to research our vendors by
Friday.
Okay, so you've got a time onthere, you know who it is and
you know what he's assigned todo.
So make sure that you do thatand then make sure that you end
on time, because a lot of peoplethey've already gotten plans
and made plans for the day afterthe meeting.
(19:09):
So if you don't end on time, itthrows their schedule off.
Please be aware of that.
You know Jeff Weiner.
He's a former CEO of LinkedIn.
He said meetings should onlylast as long as it takes to get
the business done.
So and that's it.
You get business done, you getdone, get out of that meeting.
You're done.
So then close it with prayer.
(19:30):
If you pray, like I said, thankGod for his guidance and then
you know, recap, recap what youtalked about right before that.
You pray, recap, recap what youtalked about right before that.
You pray and make sure that youall are comfortable with what
the next steps are, and then youneed to follow up.
Follow up after the meeting.
(19:52):
So maybe you want to send theminutes of that meeting.
Make sure that you track theprogress, follow up on any kind
of action items, either by emailor whatever tools that you like
for sharing documents orwhatever.
But you've got to make sure thatyou hold everybody accountable.
(20:12):
People have to be heldaccountable if they are assigned
an action item.
Make sure that they understandthat and then begin to evaluate
and improve.
You know, get some feedback.
What worked well, what didn'twork well, you know, look at
your own self and just kind ofreflect.
You know, personally, you knowhow did this meeting go, how
(20:35):
well was this meeting handled,how well did people walk away
from this meeting and know whatwas assigned and to who, and I
think that's important.
So let me give you some quickdo's and don'ts.
So do set and respect timelimits.
We talked about that.
Do encourage inclusivity.
(20:55):
So make sure that you'reinclusive, right, value
everybody's voice and make surethat you do that.
And then do focus on solutions.
Okay, so, yeah, you may havechallenges.
You're talking about those,you're dealing with those, but
let's focus on the solutions,not the problem.
Document everything.
Do document everything that'simportant.
(21:17):
It keeps transparency there,there's accountability there.
But make sure that you documenteverything that's important.
It keeps transparency there,there's accountability there.
But make sure that you documenteverything and then lead with a
servant's heart.
Put other people's needs first,try to do that to the best of
your ability, but be a servantleader.
Now, what are the don'ts?
Well, first of all, don'tmultitask.
In other words, don't belooking at your phone, looking
(21:39):
at emails at the same timeyou're in this meeting.
Make sure you give your fullattention.
Give your full attention in themeeting.
Don't allow domination, inother words, don't allow any one
person to take over the meetingand talk all the time.
Don't ignore conflicts.
If there's conflicts, you gotto address them, you got to deal
(22:01):
with them, and right away.
Um, don't skip your preparation.
That's so important.
Don't skip your preparation.
Don't forget your follow-up,that's important.
And uh, don't, uh, you know,don't neglect spiritual
integration either.
You know meetings are ministryopportunities.
If you own the business andyou're a Christian leader, you
(22:25):
have a great opportunity to haveministry opportunities within
that meeting.
Now again, you can be aChristian business owner and you
can pray in meetings, but youcan't force people to
participate in anything that's aspiritual exercise, whether it
(22:46):
be prayer, whether it be Biblereading or whatever.
You can't force them legally.
Can you do it legally?
Yes, you can, absolutely.
You have a right and that isprotected under the Civil Rights
Act, and so you do have certainrights.
So make sure that you let thosepeople know.
If you have people that may notwant to be a part of it, say,
(23:07):
look, we're going to open themeeting in prayer.
If you want to step outsidewhile we do that, Phil, you're
more than welcome to.
Or if you want to, you can sitin here silently.
So whatever you feelcomfortable with, you're not
forced to be in here while wepray, and you do the same thing
at the end of the meeting.
So I think those things areimportant for us to understand,
you know, because, as Christianbusiness leaders, productive
(23:29):
meetings are more thanefficiency.
They're bigger than that.
They're really a platform todemonstrate Christ's love, his
wisdom, his leadership, and whenyou apply these principles
today that we've been talkingabout, I believe that you'll not
only boost business outcomes,but also you'll inspire your
(23:52):
team towards some really godlyexcellence.
So commit to continualimprovement with regards to
having effective meetings withinyour organization.
Pray for God's guidance and hiswisdom in every meeting that
you have prior to that meeting.
Uh, it's so important becausemeetings are such an integral
(24:16):
part of business growth,business development.
Um, uh, it's so important.
But we just need to haveproductive meetings.
And I'll tell you, sometimesyou're better to have more
frequent, shorter meetings thanyou are to have a big span of
(24:38):
time between meetings, becausethen you're forced to cover so
much in one big meeting and it'svery discouraging.
So much in one big meeting, itis very discouraging.
So, what you want to do, you'rebetter off to have multiple
meetings for these things let'ssay that it lasts only 45
minutes than to have athree-hour meeting that you have
(24:59):
once a month.
So have more frequent meetings.
They can be shorter, but havethem more.
You know more frequentlysometimes.
But don't get me wrong, I'm notbig on having meeting after
meeting after meeting aftermeeting.
I think it's important that wemeet, especially for
brainstorming.
I think it's important to meetfor the direction of certain
(25:21):
departments or certain things.
You know there's some positivereasons why you need to have a
meeting, but I am definitely notinto having so many meetings
that you can't get anything done.
So you need to be very careful,make sure that you limit the
number of meetings that you have, make sure you invite the right
people so that they don't feelyou know that they're wasting
(25:42):
their time.
That's very discouraging andjust make sure that you follow
these principles that we talkedabout today.
All right, lord, we thank youfor helping us understand the
importance of having productiveand very purposeful meetings.
Lord, we're to be good stewardsof our time and other people's
(26:03):
times that work with us, workfor us.
Lord, help us to apply theseprinciples in our businesses, in
our departments and even in ourpersonal lives.
Lord, we thank you for that.
Help us to be good stewards,lord, even of our time and
others, and Lord, we thank youfor that.
We praise you for it In Jesus'name, amen.
(26:25):
Well, thanks to everyone who haslistened to today's podcast,
today's Christian BusinessConcepts podcast, and make sure
that you tell others, you sharewith others, about Christian
Business Concepts and thepodcast.
And if there's any way that wecan be a blessing to you, reach
out to us.
We're here.
We want to help.
(26:45):
We want to be a part ofChristian businesses around the
world.
Well, it looks like we're outto us.
We're here.
We want to help.
We want to be a part ofChristian businesses around the
world.
Well, it looks like we're outof time.
So until next week.
Remember that Jesus is Lord andhe wants you blessed.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Go toChristianBusinessConceptscom for
more information and resources.
Be sure to check out otherpodcasts that will help you take
your business and your personallife to a whole new level of
success.
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