A BUSINESS professor has come up with a shocking calculation to show how much time we waste in meetings.

If the average £30,000-a-year manager spends one hour a week in meetings where he or she does not pay attention, the total cost to British industry is suppos-edly £7.8 billion a year.

Goodness knows how Max Atkinson worked this out, but even more worrying is that the true price of useless meetings is probably far greater than this when you add travel expenses, preparation time and the cost of refreshments, venue and equipment.

There is little doubt that the average manager does spend an hour a week in this way, and for many desperate souls the true figure is higher.

Mr Atkinson blames poor public speaking techniques - including lack of enthusiasm, over-reliance on PowerPoint slides, a droning voice and bad jokes.

He is right, but there is more to running successful meetings than this.

A well-run meeting is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. It begins and ends promptly and everyone bounces happily out, satisfied that their presence has been helpful and knowing what they have to do.

But the art of chairing meetings is not something you pick up at your mother's knee.

If you have only ever attended useless meetings and never been trained you are probably going to continue the tradition.

Bad meetings start late. Their true purpose is vague. There is neither an agenda nor a fixed finishing time. Participants put off making a decision but never think of delegating power to others - it always has to be brought back to the meeting for yet more vacillation.

If you recognise your own organisation here you may need help. You could raise this issue at your next meeting, but perhaps not.

You could ask to go on an expensive all-day training course. Or, if you can spare 30 seconds, you could use an internet search engine and type the words "How to run a meeting".

You will find some excellent free advice on www.businessballs.com