Meetings are the third major time waster in the world of work. As much as 50% of working time is spent in meetings, either group meetings or one-on-one meetings. In the estimate of almost everyone, at least 50% of this time is wasted. This means that as much as 25% of all working time is lost in meetings of one kind or another. However, meetings are not an evil. Meetings are a necessary business tool for exchanging information, solving problems, and reviewing progress. But they must be managed and they must be used effectively. Here are 7 ways to increase the efficiency and improve the results of meeting time: 1. Is the meeting necessary? Many meetings turn out, in retrospect, to be unnecessary. There are other ways to achieve the same goal. Something you can achieve it by circulating a memo. You can have a conference call. You can speak to people individually. You can even postpone it to another meeting or another time altogether. If a meeting is not n...