A “Best Practices” for meetings would go something like this:
Have a purpose. Keep it to an hour or less. Be prepared.
Nobody’s going to help you with the first two.
Regarding the third, however: there’s an app called Charlie for that, and it’s available now.
Think of Charlie like a personal assistant – or, given the name – a meeting butler who saves you hours of prep-time on each meeting.
The service is simple. You sign in via Google or (coming soon) Microsoft Exchange. Charlie then looks over your calendar, and, an hour before your meeting, sends a detailed summary on each attendee.
Included in that report: each attendee’s job position, recent news on their company, direct links to their e-mail and an overview of their social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter). Even shared passions — if you both, say, like the same football team.
You can also request reports on anyone not in your calendar by simply typing in their email.
Right now Charlie is invite-only (ask for one here). But the first 25 readers who request an invite via InsideHook will get an expedited approval.
No meeting necessary.
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