Meetings have become a pain point for millions. Many see them as useless sessions that take time away from meaningful tasks. But one consultant with more than 30 years of experience has a different perspective: that meetings matter and they can be mastered.

In Meetings Matter, Paul Axtell emphasizes the importance of meetings, and he redesigns them using the vital foundation of conversation.

With real-life examples and actionable advice, he shows you how to design meetings for results, lead them to achieve agendas that move projects forward, and even allow time to build the relationships that make working together in a remarkable way possible.

This book will revolutionize the meeting, moving it from that dreaded obligation to the most powerful way to get things done in business and in life.

Meetings are at the heart of effective organizations. Each meeting is an opportunity to clarify issues, set direction, sharpen focus, create alignment, and move ambitions forward. We have to change the way we think about meetings, the way we design and lead them, and, most importantly, how we manage what happens between meetings.

Axtell offers eight powerful strategies for fixing our meeting problems, and within each strategy, he provides concrete advice you can put into action immediately such as limiting participants, being vigilant about what gets on the agenda, designing the conversation for each agenda item, and managing the experience for everyone in the room so people leave feeling heard and appreciated.

Further, he explains how meetings can be your primary way to create and maintain your network of relationships.

We go to meetings. A lot of them. So let's put creating and building relationships in front of us as one of the desired outcomes. What would you do differently if you looked at each meeting as an opportunity to add to your network?

Paul Axtell provides consulting and personal effectiveness training to a wide variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies and universities to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. A large focus of his work is how to run effective and productive meetings--to turn them from the calendar items people dread into useful, productive sessions with measurable results. The last twenty years have been devoted to designing and leading programs that enhance individual and group performance within large organizations.

Paul can be found online at paulaxtell.com and on Twitter @askpaulaxtell.