Meetings and hyper-connected audiences

A modern problem in meetings is lack of attention among attendees due to blackberries and portable computers (attendees checking email, the internet, and who-know-what-else!).


Much of this is due to bad meeting culture (i.e. meetings are too long, have too many people, should not be happening, or are poorly run). But if the meeting is important and the attendee list is correct, then full attention is needed.


I know of several ways to deal with this:


1) At Microsoft, I have heard there is a culture to sit-at-the-table if you're paying attention and sit-back-from-the-table if you are handling other urgent matters through email.


2) Some meeting managers can simply say "I'd like your full attention. If you want to use the internet to find out more about some of these topics great. But I ask that you to use it only for that purpose." (Some cultures would set up some kind of bounty - free drink if you catch someone on off-strategy.)


3) I have collected phones from participants and handed them to an assistant to check. The message is "I would like your full attention on this important topic. If you get an urgent call, my assistant will answer for you and pull you out of the meeting."

A culture of few, short meetings is the best of all solutions.