Doodle, the fast, free, and clean poll-maker/event-scheduler we last visited about two years ago, has updated with some helpful power-user features and web hook-ups that make organizing your parties and meetings easy. A new "Power Doodle" option appears when creating a meeting planner or poll, letting people answer with "If need be," hiding certain poll options from certain respondents, and other tweaks. Doodle also has added exporting to Outlook, Google Calendar and other iCal-based calendars, and a Facebook app that lets you poll your friends without a separate URL—they don't have to install the app, and non-Facebook-users can still be added. All in all, a pretty cool and non-spammy way to organize a party or meeting.

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Dysfunctional corporate behaviour expert Steve Tobak runs down three simple things that can make meetings at work suck less. Sadly for meeting attendees who often don't have a say in who's running the show, the meeting leader has a lot to do with it. Tobak writes that an effective meeting:

...is run by someone who is responsible for every aspect of the meeting including agenda, attendance, punctuality, and documentation. That person keeps everyone on topic and moves the meeting along.

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If you need to schedule a meeting and want to skip the hassle of emailing and playing phone tag to establish what time works best for everyone invited, a web-based schedule optimizer like Diarised will save you a headache or two. Visit Diarised and plug in information about the meeting, a description, the email addresses of the meeting attendees, and a list of potential meeting times. Diarised notifies attendees via email and they select the best meeting time. Diarised sends you an email summary of the optimal times. For other web based meeting time optimisers check out previously reviewed Doodle, WhenIsGood, Pointment, and Diarised [via MakeUseOf]

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Next time you agree to meet someone for coffee or lunch "sometime soon" head over to collaborative scheduling webapp Presdo. In Presdo's single entry box enter the event, your cohorts' names, and a time (vague times like "afternoon" or "next week" work too)—like "Powwow with Adam, Kevin, and Tamar next week". Presdo will create an event where you can enter a description, pick a location and shoot off an invitation email to whomever is joining you. You can suggest times and dates, and your invitees can choose which ones work for them. Check out Presdo's two main screens in action.

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Being stuck in a meeting that has little to do with your actual work can feel like a waste of time—but don't zone out out of habit. The Corporate Hack blog suggests that even if your meeting isn't, well, enthralling stuff, taking detailed notes on what was said, who's going to tackle the issues brought up, and other topics can score you serious points with the boss, whether or not you're the designated note-taker. It also helps prevent your mind from wandering in a way that's obvious from a glance, and if there's really nothing to note, you can always (surreptitiously) plan out your own action list for after the meeting. How do you put a pen and paper to good use during your round-table time? Share your secret tactics in the comments.

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Work meetings can easily descent into directionless, timewasting chaos - but you can minimise the time you spend on them by declining unnecessary invitations, keeping it to phone or email to save time on travel, and ensuring you have an agreed-up agenda to keep things on track.

The Lifehack.org blog offers several tips for minimising the time you spend on meetings - including this simple but all too often neglected rule - when you request a meeting, nominate 2 or 3 days/time that work for you. Since you've identified when you're available, the other party or parties can simply choose one, thus decreasing the wasted time and email of going back and forth to work out a suitable time.

Got any tips for how to  maximise the effectiveness of your meetings while keeping your time investment to a minimum? Please share in comments.

10 Tips for Improving Your Appointment Setting Skills [Lifehack.org]

Setting up a meeting agenda is easy—at least compared to the task of finding a time that all the participants can and will make. TimeBridge, a free meeting scheduling web app, sends out emails to every attendee you enter in and asks them which of the five time slots you've picked out work for them. If they all reply, TimeBridge figures out which time works best, confirms it and emails you back. If nothing works or you've got the inevitable one or two stragglers, you'll also find out. It's not an entirely new idea, but the instant sync with Google Calendar or Outlook (through a plug-in) certainly takes away one more step from the often tedious process. For more tips on shepherding your important discussions, hear how our readers answered a call for help.

The New York Times' Shifting Careers blog offers up five time management tricks, including Inbox Zero and unnecessary meetings, and strikes upon a truth of effective scheduling: Knowing your time-wasting weaknesses and laying down a firm policy against them.... Read More »

Disney CEO Bob Iger shares a few tidbits about how his typical workday goes with Fortune magazine. He gets up at 4:30 a.m., exercises regularly and he eschews the chauffeur and drives himself to work so he has a little extra privacy. He's also a stickler for punctual meetings:

My day needs to be managed like clockwork. If people are late for meetings, the meetings tend to go late, which throws off my agenda thereafter. I frequently start the meeting even if all the people expected to be in attendance aren't there. I don't need to say to people, "Be on time." They know.

Blogger Todd Wilkens is waging a personal war against laptops and BlackBerries in office meetings, and says you shouldn't be afraid to lay down the law.

Someone has to be the one to stand up to the social pressure. It can be an uncomfortable prospect but it is necessary. Luckily, you'll find that many people secretly want to have the excuse to disconnect and focus. They just don't want to take the risk of making people upset. Don't be afraid to make people a little uncomfortable in the name of productivity.