The one small downside of hiring an ambitious staff is that everyone wants a seat at the table. But internal meetings can quickly become unproductive when they get overcrowded with attendees.

If you find yourself running into this problem, take a cue from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (one assumes he must know how to run an effective meeting). Bezos has what he calls a “two pizza rule” for meetings. “Unfortunately, the rule is not that there must be two pizzas in attendance, but rather that Bezos won’t hold (or even go to) a meeting if two pizzas couldn’t feed the entire group,” writes Claire Lower in Lifehacker.

In fact, Business Insider reports that Bezos isn’t a fan of meetings at all. He only meets with Amazon investors for six hours per year, and he avoids early-morning meetings. Minimizing the number of meetings he takes may just be a secret of his tremendous success.

Essential Metrics

https://twitter.com/LukeTZimmer/status/897206219684892675

Assigning a dollar value to your online community is difficult, but that doesn’t mean you can’t communicate the impact and effect that community has on growing your organization. You just need to make sure you’re tracking the right metrics.

Start with tracking followers, but don’t merely look at the number you’re gaining. You also need to look at the followers you’re losing. “When you track these kinds of measures over the long term, you get an idea of your community retention rate or community churn,” writes Luke Zimmer in a recent post for online community resource Skariphos.

In addition, be sure to track your community’s engagement numbers, including shares or comments, but keep in mind that engagement KPIs vary across different groups. “Whatever it is, the real key to understanding your activity rates is understanding what your community’s purpose is,” says Zimmer.

Other Links of Note

Professional associations have a lot to offer. Corporate and government executives would be smart to consider how associations breed future leaders, John Collins writes in Science 2.0.

Too much data can be tough to decipher. The Effective Database Management blog recommends being more selective with the data you track.

Is your group experimenting with Instagram Stories? Buffer shares a how-to guide to creating attractive content.

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