New York Magazine announced that the secret to better meetings is to stand up because sit-down meetings last longer and produce no better results. I have news for you. By that logic, you’ll save even more time by cancelling your meetings altogether. Of course standing up shortens meetings. Because it makes people physically uncomfortable. But that certainly doesn’t mean you will accomplish more per minute. If you don’t know how to get results in meetings, you shouldn’t be running meetings at all!

But I’ve got more news for you. If you can’t run effective meetings, it has nothing to do with meetings. It has everything to do with a lack of clarity about what you are trying to accomplish, a lack of shared processes for fundamental tasks such as decision-making, planning, problem solving, and strategizing, and a lack of language to quickly get a group on the same page so you can agree on where you are and next steps.

Quit blaming meetings for the wandering, confusion, and lack of progress evidenced by your company’s meetings every day! Start creating clarity instead!