Most meetings I attend are a waste a lot of my time. There might be a few things I get out of them, but not much. I was recently promoted and will be conducting my own meetings. Does anyone have tips on how to make them more productive and not waste so much time for attendees?
Set only one goal to accomplish for each meeting, and stick to it to a T. You are the one running the meeting, so if coworkers begin discussing other matters, direct them back to the goal at hand. This will also ensure that you have a good reason to have the meeting in the first place. Also, only invite people who truly need to be there. If you're not sure, think "can this person be filled in via email?" If yes, they don't need to be there.
Implement the Agile method for your meeting. There are tons of free classes out there to get you familiar with Agile. They're usually used for software development, but can work in any kind of workplace. The meetings are designed to be short and to the point.