Approximately 70 percent of a manager's time is spent in meetings. What should a manager do to make efficient and effective use of this time?
A) Be flexible in agenda setting; sometimes new things just come up during the meeting and discussing it now would reduce "gearing up" time later
B) Don't keep minutes; they waste time and no one likes to take them
C) Be flexible with the ending time of the meeting so that the tasks can be accomplished
D) Insist on subordinates' suggestions to problems so that the manager may choose among alternatives, then generate his/her own
Answer: D
Explanation: A) Incorrect. Sticking to an agenda ensures that people will be prepared for the meeting and remain oriented on the relevant tasks. Not allowing last-minute items on the agenda means that many items will be taken care of outside the meeting setting (reducing the amount of time spent in meetings).
B) Incorrect. Preparing minutes of a meeting ensures that items do not appear multiple times without having been resolved. It also creates the expectation of accountability.
C) Incorrect. Failing to set deadlines for the ending time of meetings often means that tasks take longer than they need to.
D) Correct. Too much time is wasted in "upward delegation," where employees delegate difficult problems back to the manager.
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Jessica was a former employee of Mark. When potential employers called Mark for a reference about Jessica, he stated she was not a very good worker and had been fired for excessive absences. He said he had reason to believe Jessica was on drugs, but he wasn't absolutely certain. Jessica learned what Mark was saying and sued him. In most states A) under the qualified privilege rule, it was legal
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