Customer Reviews

The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done (Bk Business)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I love this book. As with the first Hamster Revolution, the team's second book, The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done (Bk Business) is about improving productivity in meaningful and MEASUREABLE ways. It lays out a method that is sure to make a difference in how you get things done!

It is also lots of fun to read!!!

THE HAMSTER REVOLUTION FOR MEETINGS: HOW TO MEET LESS AND GET MORE DONE provides a guide to organizing more effective meetings for modern times. A case study shows how 2,000 capital One associates cut their meeting time by 13 percent while improving results by 38 percent: this book tells how to follow that track, keeping meetings engaging and effective. A 'must' for any business library!

Great tips for meetings. The part on virtual meetings is a wonderful section and easy to implement

The bad news: 43 percent of your time in the Meetings Bucket is wasted. The good news: this book includes a case study that improved meeting results by 38 percent. So...would you spend a few bucks on a book that helped you have less, but more productive meetings? Of course you would. This book is a no-brainer purchase.

First, calculate the hourly salary and benefits cost of everyone that attended the last staff or department meeting. Did you get your money's worth out of the meeting? If not, there's help.

The co-authors recommend you try the P.O.S.E. meeting reduction system. Priority, Objenda (objective and agenda), Shorten and E-vailable. The "Priority" question asks, "Does this meeting relate to my top goals for the year?" Amen and amen! (It's the perfect union of the Meetings Bucket with the Results Bucket. See my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit.)

"How to meet less and get more done" (the book's sub-title) is all it took for me to jump in. With a foreword by Ken Blanchard and co-authored by Vicki Halsey, VP of applied learning at the Ken Blanchard Companies (she's a great presenter also), my expectations were high and the 130-pages, including a case study, did not disappoint. It's in the classic business story format, with large print, so it's easy to read and easy to implement.

Would you put someone in the pulpit on Sunday morning who has never preached before or been trained as a speaker? If not, why would you ask someone to lead a meeting--using up valuable and limited staff time and payroll--who has never been trained in meeting facilitation?

To drive the point home, ask these questions at your next staff meeting: 1) How much training have you had on leading or attending meetings? 2) What book(s) have you read that have made you a better meeting facilitator or attender? 3) If you could change three things about a meeting you attended last week, what would they be?

Mike has done it again. It is a quick read with long lasting take home points. It is very difficult to write an entertaining story that also teaches, they have done it twice.
I would recommend this to any team that is, as Iris says "Trying to make each meeting better than the last."

I am loving the immediacy of the ideas shared in this easy to read and implement book. It is clear the authors understand the life of people (leaders) trying to do great work while rushing from meeting to meeting. 20/50's are fabulous and I can't imagine why anyone would ever have 30 or 60 min. meeting again. The part about setting up and running effective virtual meetings and how to get everyone involved while building community is also going to help me structure my virtual team meetings. Great read, great ideas.

I thought I'd heard all the tips for effective meetings, but The Hamster Revolution for Meetings managed to surprise me with new and inspiring methods for making my meetings much more enjoyable and productive.

The easy-to-read style and quirky main character make it a quick read, but don't be fooled by this book's simplicity - it's packed with timely, substantial information. As someone who works from a home office and "meets" with people worldwide over the internet, the up-to-date tips for conducting successful online meetings and webinars are particularly useful. I turned the last page then immediately opened my calendar to search for my next meeting opportunity to try out what I'd learned!

I guess you can't keep a good hamster down. The people that brought you The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before It Manages You (Bk Business) have done it again. Buy this quick read book, have everyone on your team buy it and at your next meeting talk about how it applies to your meetings. You will save time, streamline meetings and then you will go out and buy their first book to help you do the same with your email.

-Mark Goulston, FAST COMPANY
author of Get Out of Your Own Way at Work...And Help Others Do the Same: Conquer Self-Defeating Behavior on the Job and the upcoming Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone

The Hamster Revolution For Meetings is a quick easy read with some good pearls of wisdom for those who facilitate or attend frequent meetings. I enjoyed the section and suggestions on enhancing group interaction for "virtual or remote meetings". Comments, tips, and Information Technology checks can certainly improve the delivery and subsequent results. Case Study was also a good close.

I found the style of the book annoying (the narrator having a conversation with a woman (hamster) on a plane), but some might find it amusing.

The meeting tips seemed pretty self-evident. There were also technology tips, such a reboot your computer before the meeting. They seemed, dare I say it, more relevant for the hamster brained.