People groan at the thought of having to attend meetings. Correction. People groan at the thought of attending a poorly run or long, dragged out meeting.

I am a firm believer that your ability to run a great meeting not only helps your cause or organization, but can be one of the most important ways to help you achieve your own personal and professional goals. Howzzat for a win:win?!!!

So, if people hate poorly run meetings, it follows that they will LOVE efficiently, effectively, and, (can we say it?... fun meetings! More simple than you think... There is a f r e e assessment below to help you sharpen your "meeting savvy."

This month, we will devote our blog posts and our podcasts to meeting awesomeness!

And to start, check out the rest of our newsletter which has several tips, tricks, strategies, and plain old advice to help you take your meetings from good to GREAT to AWESOME!

Meetings Can Make (or Break) Your Career (30 second read, and worth it!)

Attracting People to Your Organization's Meetings (25 second read)

Five Ways to Make Your Meetings More Efficient and Fun (20 second read)

• Want to make sure they show up? Set up an automated reminder using delayed delivery to all attendees an hour prior to the meeting
• Use your Outlook Calendar to schedule meetings instead of group emails. Here's more...

"Meetings at work present great opportunities to showcase your talent. Do not let them go to waste." — Abhishek Ratna

"If you're on time, you're late." — Phillip Gary Smith

Here is your challenge for the month — yes, it deals with your involvement in meetings... Choose one or all three of these challenges, which could create opportunities for you.

• Commit to arriving for every meeting this month at least two minutes prior to the start. Extra credit: five minutes!
• Commit to keeping your PDA out of sight, off, and not even a sneak peek during every meeting this month.
• Commit to not interrupting or talking over any meeting participant (especially the boss.)