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Meetings are not everyone’s favorite place. Very few meetings in the workplace are fun and productive. There are lots of books that teach how to make meetings useful. Some of them are very good, but most fail to make an impact because the readers tend to focus on the mechanics of meetings: setting the agenda, using a timer, and sending out minutes.

Try this simple rule when you organize your next meeting. Ask yourself, “What is my call to action?” Meaning, what do you want your audience to do? This could be asking them to stop doing something, do something differently, or start doing something.

This simple rule will ensure that you select the right audience, create a simple, focused, and defensible message, and most important, have people’s attention during the meeting.

If your audience is checking their email during a presentation, they most likely don’t need to be there. Don’t ask them to close their laptop, ask them to commit to a decision or take an action. Excuse the egregious offenders, tell them you’ll send them an email to keep them in the loop.

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Every project has a twilight zone. This word describes a fact in nature and also has a more sinister meaning. For me, this is that period of the project when all hell breaks loose. It can happen at any time in the project, but it will happen without fail when the launch date nears.

Rookies will complain about or fear the twilight zone. Experienced professionals will prepare for it. The zen masters will embrace it. This progression will happen only when you enter into and emerge from multiple twilight zones.

The only thing to remember when entering the zone is to not panic. Do the best you can. Be compassionate with yourself and your co-workers. When you emerge, get some rest, then prepare for the next twilight zone.