“Alright, we might as well go ahead and get started.”
That’s how we began the record breaking Board of Trustees meeting last night. We finished the meeting 58 speedy minutes later and it appears that a new record for “shortest board meeting” may have been established!
You say, “Dan, did you just race through the meeting in order to finish quickly and not even get anything accomplished?”
Yes, I did. Is that wrong?
No, no, I’m joking. We took care of business; and made decisions; and considered issues that need to be addressed; and assigned action items; and played a quick round of Scrabble.
….We even had time to hear Randy tell a story about driving when he couldn’t actually see. It’s a good one. But we moved along quickly and efficiently.
However, the board’s co-chairman, Larry, seemed as if he might have been disputing this record. I suspect he may not be completely delighted that I chaired this quick meeting.
You say, “Why would Larry care whether you chaired a quick meeting?”
Ah, that’s a very good question. You see, Larry presided over a meeting a while back, IN MY ABSENCE, and they took care of the necessary business and finished up quickly. At the time, that particular session held the record for “shortest board meeting”. Since then, there’s been a little good natured teasing along these lines: “Larry runs efficient meetings and we get out of here quickly, not like Dan’s long meetings.”
Or, “We don’t measure the length of Dan’s meetings with a watch, we measure them with calendar pages.” …Diane may have said that one. I’m not sure. She’s quiet, yes, but she will still get the zingers in there, every now and then.
By the way, Larry and I, both, seem to agree with this unwritten principle: A good meeting is a short meeting….(Actually, I guess that has just become a WRITTEN principle, hasn’t it? Yes, a good meeting is a short meeting. There! It’s definitely a written principle now, not just an UNWRITTEN principle.)
As we came to the close of last night’s meeting, I looked at my watch and it read: 7:58pm. I looked at Rose—the board secretary—and saw her looking at the clock with a smile on her face. She knew that Larry’s previous record was in jeopardy.
As the last official action, I closed the meeting in prayer and as I was praying I could sense Larry hoping that my prayer would be a lengthy one. I think, perhaps, he was hoping that I would pray for lots of different issues and mention many prayer requests, possibly pray for missionaries, by name, in dozens of overseas locations. But, no, it was a quick prayer and the meeting was over.
A new record has been established. “Dan’s long meetings”…? I don’t think so. Not anymore!
8:15pm and the meeting table is
empty. Everyone's gone. The
meeting was finished in record
time. Yes!!!
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