Nobody likes to be in an unproductive meeting. Yet many phone conferences and business meetings drag on way too long, go off-topic or simply have unfocused leadership.

Here are three simple ways you can apply right away to make all your meetings more effective:

1. Batch Processing - Group topics with similar themes together and discuss one after another. The less "context switching" between topics will add to better efficiency and flow with all participants.
2. Timebox It - Set a firm time for each agenda item and give amble warning when it's near time to complete. Let people know you plan to cut off the discussion when the time is up. This can sometimes be hard in the moment, but everyone appreciates a meeting that ends on time or even early!
3. Use a Timer - Now that your using a timebox, make sure you stick to it! A great, and simple, tool for timing your meetings is E.ggtimer.