European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                New meeting management Institute Aims to trim the amount of time often wasted in millions of meetings. A photo by Elizabeth m. Fowler new York times of executives in the United states spend 17 hours a week in business meetings and More hours Are spent getting ready. Preparations for the meetings average another six hours said Ronald e. Gerevas president of Heidrick & struggles a management recruiting firm. Because top executives typically work 61 hours a week the meetings and thinking about them account for almost 38 percent of their time. The fact that Many hours Are spent in meetings has been Well known for years but it is surprising that so Little has been done to juggle executives time More effectively in these Days when millions of corporate dollars flow to management consultants and trainers. The time often wasted in millions of meetings a year boggled the minds of executives at the Minnesota mining and manufacturing company. The company usually known As 3m, produces graphics for presentations at meetings As Well As manufactures such products As scotch Brand cellophane tape the company has opened an educational unit called the 3m meeting management Institute to help make american business meetings More productive. Based in Minneapolis 3m s Headquarters the Institute sponsors research seminars and publications. We will act As a Clearinghouse said Virginia Johnson who will act As manager of the new Institute while continuing in 3m s audio visual division. She explained that the Institute As an information resource will offer its findings free or at Small Cost to any organization interested in improving its meetings. Good meetings Are essential to Overall organizational productivity Johnson said. With corporations constantly restructuring and competitive pressure mounting it is essential for business people to communicate ideas and plans and concerns within their  she identified two Basic types of meetings those for sharing information and those for solving problems. Other types include those for training building morale Page 16 the stars and stripes and recognizing achievements. Before the Institute was formed 3m published a Book titled How to run better business meetings in 1979 and revised it last year. It has also sponsored research on meetings at the University of Minnesota and the University of Pennsylvania s Wharton Center for applied research. Johnson is Busy organizing an advisory group that includes representatives from the state department the International business machines corporation and Corning Glass works among other organizations. Also a member is Lynn Oppenheim a psychologist and vice president of the Wharton Center who has just completed a study for the Institute called making meetings matter. The group will focus on what makes meetings effective. It will consider such issues As How to determine criteria for meetings develop leadership skills and Transfer the information obtained. There might even be a new career developing manager in charge of meetings Johnson said. A 3m Survey found that enhancing meeting productivity is rarely the specific responsibility of  no one can easily identify who is responsible for White Collar productivity she said explaining that the question has often been asked of chief executives. They would be hard pressed to name the title of a person who has  sometimes she said the executives reply that human resources people Are in charge and sometimes they say training directors Are responsible. Yet Johnson said corporate profits can be affected by time wasted in poorly directed meetings and by difficulty in transferring information to the company at Large. Many of us have taken Public speaking course 101 in College but who has Ever had a course called effective meeting management " Johnson said. Indeed one of the 3m Institute s first ventures will be a Survey of graduate business schools to find out whether any have such a course and what is being taught she said. Making meetings More efficient May be one of the last frontiers for improving productivity ranking in importance with developments like computers robotics and speedy air travel. Friday july 1,1988 Swap shop by Bob Webster United press International Urs is rapidly becoming a cashless society of electronic banking debit cards and now a bartering department store where no Cash changes hands. The barter department store operated by the Trade american card corp., opened to the Public in Orange calif., in january. From the inside the store resembles most others with a selection of products ranging from Salvador Dali lithographs to Lizard skin boots. But Don t look for Cash registers. The store is one of a growing number of cashless showrooms offering merchandise for Trade Only. For the past 16 years the store has been open Only to members of a barter Exchange operated by Trade american card. But now anyone with almost anything to Trade can cruise the aisles. It s a first Quality store not a Swap meet said Sondra Schoenberger the store s director of operations. It s brought the average person in to get involved in barter. A majority of people Haven t caught on  business has increased substantially since Trade american opened its trading floor to the Public Schoenberger said adding that most customers bring in unopened wedding or birthday gifts for Exchange. Whatever you would pay Cash for we have in the system she said. Bartering is the age old custom of trading goods and services for similar products of equal value. The practice tends to increase in popularity in times when inflation is up and people Don t have As much Cash to  Schoenberger we actually did better when other businesses were  Robert Crumpton president of the National association of Trade associations said More than $1 billion Worth of goods and services were bartered last year among the association s 50 member exchanges an increase of about 15 percent from the previous year. The exchanges have a total membership of about 100,000 traders Crumpton said. He estimated there Are about 500 barter clubs nationwide. If you have extra merchandise or Are a professional and have available time you would Welcome bartering Crumpton said. It s a super Way to get rid of extra  the barter exchanges make Money by charging a membership fee ranging from $100 to $500 and by collecting a 10 percent commission from the monthly purchases by members. Members sell their goods and services to other members in the club for Trade credits which Are used instead of Cash to acquire additional goods and services. The exchanges include various business ranging from doctors and lawyers to restaurants and hair stylists. Schoenberger said Trade american has More than 2,000 members mostly medium sized businesses. These members she said average about $4,000 Worth of trades monthly. A lot of people do trading but the uniqueness of our system is you Don t have to do business with the people who do business with you Schoenberger said. For example a dentist could Trade a Root canal operation for a pair of Lizard skin Cowboy boots from another Exchange member. If the owner of the shoe store does not need dental work the value of the boots would be credited to his or her account to be applied to merchandise or services from other Exchange members. We put buyers and Sellers together said Schoenberger who exchanged three malamute puppies valued at $450 each to a pet store to cover the Cost of the birth of her daughter two years ago. Her doctor also was a member of the barter Exchange